As roughly 12,000 college faculty mark Day 3 of a strike, some of the more than 500,000 affected students are marching in solidarity with teachers.
At Fanshawe College, a handful of students joined the picket line on Wednesday. Among them was third-year student Chad Henshaw.
“I’m supposed to graduate this year so I’m hoping that the term doesn’t come at risk,” he explained.
“Being in child and youth care worker as well, there’s three of our classes that are heavy in-class content — counselling, suicide assessments, different things like that. If we’re not in class we’re not practicing those skills so we’re kind of losing out.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, a change.org petition calling for refunds for every day of missed classes has over 77,500 signatures.
Henshaw urged other students to get involved, by showing up in person or showing support online.
“There’s power in numbers, right? So if us as students come together and show our support for the teachers maybe that will put some extra pressure on the college board and the government to make a quicker deal.”
With no end in sight and no new talks scheduled, Fanshawe College has posted information online to clarify what events and buildings are affected by the strike as well as answers to frequently asked questions.