Students worried about academic future
Walking through the halls of Niagara College’s Welland campus Monday was like walking through a ghost town as teaching staff was on strike outside.
Classes were cancelled as the teachers picketed in order to try to get a number of items, including better job security for parttime staff, which make up more than half of the college’s teaching faculty.
They are part of a provincewide strike that began at 12:01 a.m. Monday as Ontario Public Service Employees Union continued to negotiate with the College Employer Council.
As teachers stand on the picket line trying to secure the future of their careers, students are unsure what the future of their student careers looks like.
Despite the strike, a few students still made their way to the Welland campus, including first-year early childhood education students Oceana Laidlaw, Laura Jansema and Jessica Murray, who still have to complete the co-op part of their program. They each expressed apprehension about their future, even though it was only the first day of the strike.
“(The teachers) won’t be able to post the lectures,” Jansema said. “We can do the readings in the book, but we’re not going to understand it without the lectures.”
They also weren’t certain what would happen if in the worst case scenario the strike isn’t resolved quickly. They worried about falling behind or the entire semester being cancelled, although the college website says that hasn’t happened in the past.
Money is also a concern. Murray said she didn’t pay her tuition costs to not be able to go to class.
Money seemed to be one of the biggest concerns for students across the province as an online petition through change.org was posted two weeks ago. The creators of the petition, who called themselves Ontario College Students, are demanding by-day refunds for each day the teachers are on strike. The petition had more than 45,000 signatures as of 1 p.m. Monday.
First-year electrical engineering student Shawn MacDonald said he can see things from both sides of the argument.
As a student, he’s concerned about how long the strike may last. He said even missing three weeks of class can be devastating to students because of how short terms are.
But he said he also wants fairness for the teachers.
He stopped to speak to the pickets, and afterwards offered to help champion their cause. He began handing out information to fellow students.
“I really do feel like the teachers are being taken advantage of by the college,” he said.
He said the pickets told him that 17 per cent of teaching staff at Niagara College are full time, leaving 83 per cent of that staff at a part-time or contract level, neither of which have job security.
“That’s not right,” MacDonald said.
Niagara College communications manager Michael Wales said, however, those figures aren’t correct. He said 44 per cent of teaching staff at Niagara College are fulltime employees; 60 per cent of the teaching staff is a part of the bargaining unit.
The college continues to provide information to students about the strike at niagaracollege.ca/strikeinfo. Students are also welcome to visit the student administrative council (SAC) offices on either the Welland or Niagara-on-the-Lake campus for information.
SAC president Ryan Huckla said many students have reached out in person, by social media and by email. He and his team are doing the best they can to make sure all questions are answered. He said he was up until the early hours of the morning on Monday answering emails.
“This is a difficult time for a lot of people and I want to make sure that if a student is going to sleep, they’re going to sleep knowing their questions are answered,” he said.
He said SAC’s main priority is the students and making sure they have accurate information.
His advice to students is to do their best to continue with their studies. He said students can follow teaching and learning plans handed out at the beginning of the term even though classes won’t be held.
“The strike will end and, hopefully, students are still fresh with that information and can continue on when (class) gets back going,” he said.
The last time Niagara College teachers were on strike was in 2006. The strike lasted for 18 days.