No talks scheduled as college strike continues
Classes remain shut down as a strike continues at Niagara College after teaching staff walked out Monday.
Niagara College is among 24 colleges on strike after negotiations between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the College Employer Council broke down on Sunday at midnight after the sides couldn’t reach an agreement.
Terry Poirier, chief steward of OPSEU Local 242, said there has been no word yet of talks recommencing and they are waiting to hear from the mediator.
He said over the past few days, he and those on the picket line handing out information about why they are on strike at the college’s entrances have had a lot of positive support.
He said he has also had people tell him to “get back to work,” but he has a response for them.
“We want to go back to work under conditions that are better than we are currently experiencing,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
The union is asking for quality, fairness and academic freedom for its 12,000 college faculty members, up to 300 of which are Niagara College staff.
Lack of freedom or even a say when it comes to teaching material and lack of stability for non-full-time staff is something the union is taking issue with. Parttime, partial load and seasonal staff are subject to potentially teaching one term, then not the next, only to be back for another at a later time, or maybe not at all.
Among the demands during negotiations is also an increased number of full-time positions. At present, only 44 per cent of Niagara College’s staff are full time.
The last offer requested 50:50 for staffing.
He said he doesn’t anticipate hearing anything right from management because it thought the last offer would be the final one.
“Our resolve will demonstrate to management that we’re going to be here to support the ideals that we started with and that we presented to management that they rejected,” he said.
Lucy Morton, Region 2 vice-president of OPSEU, said although it’s part of the negotiations, the strike isn’t about money, it’s about better working conditions for the teaching faculty.
“To shut down talks is ridiculous,” she said of the current situation.
She said what should be happening is the College Employer Council should be asking the staff what they need to make and do their jobs better, not trying to impose conditions on them.
David Scott, a representative for the College Employer Council, reiterated the situation is in the hands of the mediator, who will let both parties know when they should return to the bargaining table.
Michael Wales, communications manager for Niagara College, said the college continues to encourage students to stay up to date with the information and to visit the college website for updates on the strike and college operations.
He said both campuses are open and non-academic services and activities are still available for students.
Poirier said he appreciates how engaged people are and the pickets will continue at college entrances, including next week during reading week. Reading week is observed in only nine of the 24 colleges affected by the strike.