Student leaders ask province to intervene in college faculty strike

TORONTO — Student union leaders are calling on the Ontario government to get college administrators and striking faculty to return to the bargaining table to end a labour dispute that has seen classes cancelled at the province’s 24 colleges.

In a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne and a number of members of Ontario’s legislature, the presidents of student associations at eight colleges ask the government to get both the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union and the College Employer Council to resume talks. There are currently no talks scheduled.

Morganna Sampson, president of Fanshawe College’s students’ union in London, Ont., said she feels as if students are caught in the middle of the dispute and their education will suffer as a result.

“We shouldn’t be a bargaining chip in this,” Sampson said on Friday. “The student associations agree this is unacceptable. They need to get back to the bargaining table.”

The labour dispute 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.

Sampson said the student leaders are not taking sides, but want both parties to reach a resolution. “We’re not here to criticize or judge or to overstep in anyway, we are just representing our students and we want what’s best for them in the long run,” she said.

Student union leaders from Seneca, Humber, St. Clair, Mohawk, Niagara, Sheridan, Confederation and Fanshawe college signed the letter.

Sampson said they are concerned that the quality of education will be diminished the longer the strike goes on because material will have to be condensed to make up the semester.

The student leaders have requested a meeting with Wynne, Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews, faculty union and college representatives on Oct. 26.

About 500,000 full-time and part-time students have been impacted by the strike.

In Hamilton, striking faculty held a rally Friday at Mohawk College, which was attended by about 325 people.

Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said she went to show her support for quality post-secondary education in the province.

“I think the government needs to step up to the plate and make sure that they’re resourcing our post-secondary education so not only can these instructors and workers have decent jobs, but so that the quality of our institutions is improved,” she told The Spectator.

She said she hopes the provincial government will meet with the College Employer Council over the weekend to discuss providing them with additional resources.

“I think that the colleges are obviously looking for some support from the government to help them meet some of the demands of the instructors, and I think that that needs to happen,” Horwath said.

Geoff Ondercin-Bourne, president of OPSEU Local 240, which represents faculty and other staff at Mohawk, said no talks have been scheduled.

The decision to strike was not based on salary increases but on the precarious work environment, he said.

“If that were the issue, then there wouldn’t even be a strike,” said Ondercin-Bourne, pointing to benefits and job security for parttime staff and the size of the bargaining unit and those paying into the pension plan for full-time members.

At Mohawk, there have been instances of people trying to drive their vehicles through the picket line all week, including three times on Friday, he said.

“Safety is No. 1,” said Ondercin-Bourne. “That’s our biggest concern.”

In a statement Friday, Matthews said the province remains optimistic that will reach an agreement.