Meet the Bargaining Team 2020/2021

JP is chief steward in Local 556 (George Brown) and past chair of the 2017 CAAT-A bargaining team.

JP is the co-ordinator of the School of Labour at George Brown and a member and previous chair of the CAAT-A Divisional Executive.

In addition to teaching labour studies courses, JP has also been a delegate to the Canadian Association of University Teachers. JP has worked in the Ontario college system since 1997 as a contract and full-time professor and is a long-time social justice and labour activist.

An experienced educator and steward, JP is committed to bringing a socially progressive labour perspective to students and workers through workshops, training and community events.

Jonathan is the long-time president and current vice-president, Equity, of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 560 at Seneca College, where he has taught in the School of English and Liberal Studies for the last 13 years.

He has served the CAAT-A division in roles such as divisional executive member, delegate to the Canadian Association of University Teachers and member of the 2014 bargaining team.

His introduction to the Ontario college system was teaching partial-load at Centennial College upon his return home to Toronto from graduate studies in California. There, he had participated in the successful effort to create the first union of teaching assistants at a public university in the United States.

Jonathan is also the creator and manager of One Ontario College Prof’s Blog and has published in Workplace: The Journal of Academic Labour. Last year, Jonathan completed a certificate in dispute resolution at York University.

Ravi has taught in the Ontario college system since January 2003. He was a part-time, partial-load and sessional psychology professor at Mohawk College from 2003 until 2006, before becoming a full-time professor at Niagara College in August 2006.

Additionally, he was a co-ordinator in the School of Academic and Liberal Studies from 2011 to 2017. Ravi served as vice-president of Local 242 from 2015 to 2019, and as president since 2019.

During his time on the Local Executive Committee, Ravi has served on the College Workload

Monitoring Group, the College Employment Stability Committee, the Joint Health and Safety

Committee and the Union/College Committee. At the provincial level, he is currently on the Joint Grievance Scheduling Committee and was a member of the 2017 CAAT-A Bargaining Team.

Ravi is excited to be elected to the 2021 bargaining team and is eager to face the challenges ahead in the upcoming round of contract negotiations.

Rebecca is president of Local 732 and a co-ordinator/professor at Confederation College. She brings experience to the bargaining team in terms of fostering collective action in the northwest region of the province.

As an activist, Rebecca has been fighting for the principles of employment stability, equity and anti-Indigenous racism at the local level. She has negotiated numerous local agreements in the midst of a challenging political landscape. She has also led negotiations and arbitrations regarding remote teaching and workloads, and is experienced in using consensus decision making.

Rebecca has been president since 2017 but has advocated for the rights of the most targeted young people in the province for 20 years. She has chaired the Union College Committee, the Workload Monitoring Group and the College Employment Stability Committee.

She is known to be a fearless leader with grit, integrity, and passion. She has worked in the college system for 12 years as a full-time faculty member and also works within the university stream as a contract lecturer. Her skills and experiences will be beneficial as a bargaining team member.

Kathleen Flynn is a full-time professor, teaching social science courses in the General Education and General Arts and Science programs at Durham College.

She is the acting Vice-President for Local 354 and has embraced other roles, such as steward and chief steward, and is a member of the Workload Monitoring Group, the Union College Committee and the Joint Health and Safety Committee.

Kathleen has worked in the Ontario college system since 2012 as a part-time, partial-load and full-time faculty member. She has over a decade of experience teaching and developing curriculum in face-to-face, hybrid and online (synchronous and asynchronous) formats at every education level in Ontario as a K-12 teacher in both elementary and secondary schools, college professor and a Faculty of Education sessional instructor.

Kathleen’s experience in Ontario classrooms from kindergarten to postsecondary has provided her with unique insight into the educational gaps and pedagogical disruption occurring across the education system, resulting in new and continuing workload issues for college faculty.

Being an online teacher and enthusiastic union activist, she often finds her research interests combine her passion for equity issues and education with digital technologies.

Kathleen is looking forward to her continued role as a regional evaluator for the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence and her new role as a CAAT-A bargaining team member!

Shawn is the treasurer for Local 415. He was a member of the 2017 CAAT-A bargaining team and is a co-ordinator/professor at Algonquin College, Pembroke campus.

Shawn brings valuable expertise to the bargaining team in the areas of financial analysis, interpersonal communication, group dynamics and conflict management.

As a union activist, Shawn has been fighting for members’ rights and union principles, both at the local and provincial levels, for close to 15 years.

He is known for his creative problem-solving and consensus-building skills. Shawn is excited to work with the team to build upon the gains achieved in the 2017 round of bargaining.

Michelle is a lawyer and a member in good standing with Law Society of Ontario. She has been teaching in the School of Business and International Education for the last eight years at Lambton College in Sarnia.

Michelle is president of Local 125. She was a union steward at the college prior to taking on the role of president.

Michelle has worked in the Ontario college system since 2012 as a contract and full-time professor, as well as a co-ordinator of various programs.

She has been serving on the College Workload Monitoring Group and the Union/College Committee since 2018, and more recently, the College Employment Stability Committee.

She is excited to be a member of the CAAT-A bargaining team and looks forward to the upcoming round of contract negotiations.