In a province-wide vote held on September 10, faculty at Ontario's 24 colleges ratified a new collective agreement. The agreement negotiated between the college faculty bargaining team and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) avoided what could have been Fanshawe's second strike in two years.

Approximately 89 per cent of votes were cast in favour of the agreement, according to unofficial results. Fanshawe College had a 40 per cent turnout with 97.4 per cent voting to accept the agreement.

The new two-year agreement includes job security for partialload workers (those who teach seven to 10 hours per week) allows eligible faculty to move through the grid and leaves benefits (such as sick leave, dental and vacation) untouched.

"We also had an improvement in coordinator language," Darryl Bedford, President of OPSEU local 110 explained. "This was to clarify that coordinators are not to supervise other faculty, they're not to perform management duties, but they're to provide academic leadership."

The deal also includes a two-year wage freeze for employees, but Bedford didn't seem too concerned. "This round wasn't about money; it was about dignity and respect. We knew from our membership that salary was in the top 10 ...; but, there were much higher priorities for our membership, so we were able to address two items and not take any steps backwards."

OPSEU represents more than 10,000 faculty members at colleges across Ontario.