TORONTO – Faculty at Ontario’s 24 colleges are walking picket lines today, with the labour dispute affecting more than 500,000 students in the province.
The strike involving more than 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians began late Sunday, after the two sides couldn’t resolve their differences by a deadline of 12:01 a.m. Monday.
“There was really nothing left that we could put forward, nothing more coming from the employer,” Nicole Zwiers, a member of the Ontario Public Services Employees Union said.
READ MORE: Ontario college union asked to put in extra hours to help avert strike
The faculty regrets the effect on students, but many understand the issues at play, said Zwiers.
“It’s always a case that there is always a high degree of upset, which is absolutely understandable,” said Zwiers in an interview Sunday night. “I think that many of our students are indicating to us that they understand the issues that we’re facing.”
There was no indication on when talks might resume said Zwiers, but the union remained optimistic.
WATCH: Ontario college students call for refund as faculty go on strike
The College Employer Council, which bargains for the colleges, called the strike completely unnecessary.
“We should have had a deal based on our final offer. It is comparable to, or better than, recent public-sector settlements with teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals, and Ontario public servants – most of which were negotiated by OPSEU,” said Sonia Del Missier, a spokeswoman for the council, in a statement.
READ MORE: Fleming College prepares students for possible faculty strike
The union’s demands would have added more than $250 million in annual costs, the council said.
The union presented a proposal Saturday night that called for the number of full time faculty to match the number of faculty members on contract.
LISTEN: OPSEU Local 556 president Tom Tomassi joins Tasha Kheiriddin on AM640
It also called for improvements in job security and for faculty to have a stronger voice in academic decision making.
The strike involves more than 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors, and librarians.
Petition asks for tuition refund
A petition was launched over the weekend to urge school administrators to refund their tuition in the event of a strike.
“Students suffer the most, yet we are not part of the conversation,” the petition states. “We lose learning. We lose time. We demand a refund.”
LISTEN: Amir Allana, Humber College student behind the tuition refund petition, joins Kelly Cutrara on AM640
An average tuition in Ontario for two 13-week semesters is $5,000 or nearly $40 a day.
The petition is demanding full-time students be reimbursed $30 a day and part-time students $20 a day.
“We, the students, want to be in school and we want to learn. We are paying for it,” the petition said.
“If the two bargaining teams do not consider our educational and employment prospects as motive enough to reach an agreement, then perhaps a justifiable hit to the colleges’ bottom line will.”
More than 40,000 people have signed the petition as of Monday morning with a goal of 50,000 signatures.
The list of 24 colleges affected by the faculty strike are as follows:
Algonquin, Cambrian, Canadore, Centennial, Collège boréale, Conestoga, Confederation, Durham, Fanshawe, Fleming, George Brown, Georgian, Humber, La cité collégiale, Lambton, Loyalist, Mohawk, Niagara, Northern, Sault, Seneca, Sheridan, St. Clair and St. Lawrence.
-With a file from Global News
- Honda expected to announce Ontario EV battery plant, part of a $15B investment
- Trudeau says ‘good luck’ to Saskatchewan premier in carbon price spat
- Canadians more likely to eat food past best-before date. What are the risks?
- Hundreds mourn 16-year-old Halifax homicide victim: ‘The youth are feeling it’
Comments