The possibility of a strike at Ontario's 24 public colleges continues to loom large over campuses, there's no indication the two sides are any closer to reaching a deal.
If anything, the two sides appear further apart than ever with just two days to go before professors, instructors, and librarians walk off the job.
The College Employer Council accuses the Ontario Public Service Employees Union of "needless escalation" while the union accuses the council of "working against faculty interests."
The two parties in the labour dispute meet with a mediator again on Tuesday.
OPSEU represents professors, instructors, and librarians, and last week gave its five-day notice of a labour action. Its members could strike on Thursday.
According to the council, OPSEU appears set on sending its members to the picket line. It said the union has refused binding arbitration and its demands would cost over $1-billion.
"Since July, we've been explaining to the union the financial challenges facing the college sector, including $1.7-billion in losses, and emphasizing the importance of ensuring their demands are reasonably aligned with these realities," said CEC CEO Graham Lloyd.
"We love our work. We want to be in our classrooms, labs, libraries, and offices supporting students," said OPSEU last week. "But our work can't come at the cost of floating the college system on our unpaid labour, about $24,500 per faculty member annually."
The council still hopes a deal can be reached to avert Thursday's planned strike. It first proposed binding arbitration last October, "the usual way of settling past labour disputes between the CEC and OPSEU in the post-secondary sector."