Faculty strike fuels students’ anger

‘Disheartened and disgruntled’ protesters on local campuses joining rally at Queen’s Park Wednesday

WATERLOO REGION — Student leaders at Conestoga College say they’re increasingly angry at being stuck in the middle of a faculty strike that’s stretching into its third week with no sign of resolution.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Aimee Calma, president of the local student association, Conestoga Students Inc, which represents 14,000 full-time and 32,000 continuing education students at Conestoga.

“A lot of students are feeling very disheartened and disgruntled ... Both sides say they’re doing this for students. Students very much feel like collateral.”

On Wednesday, a large crowd of students are expected to rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto. Buses have been hired to drive protesters from local campuses, including Doon, Waterloo and Guelph.

But even as they try to apply more pressure to the provincial government to intervene and force an end to the job action, students say they’re still not getting satisfying answers about what the strike will mean for their academic year.

Students are worried the school year may be extended, which would add to their expenses and interfere with job plans.

They’re also wondering how their courses may be condensed once the strike ends, and how that might impact the education they paid for.

“A lot of students are asking questions that still don’t have answers,” Calma said.

“There’s still tons of question marks and mounting frustration ... We’re getting half-

answers, but nothing really definitive.” The strike began Oct. 16 when 12,000 full-time and partial-load instructors hit the picket lines at Ontario’s 24 public colleges — cancelling classes for more than 300,000 students.

The Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union (OPSEU), which represents the striking instructors, says it wants the colleges to stop relying so heavily on cheaper, part-time contract instructors.

The union wants at least half of teachers employed by the colleges to be full-time, and is asking for improvements to wages.

The College Employer Council, which represents Conestoga and other Ontario colleges, has said the union’s demands will cost $250 million — and lead to the loss of thousands of contract positions.

The strike is approaching uncharted territory, since no college strike has ever lasted longer than three weeks.

While the association is officially neutral in the dispute, Calma and other student leaders have been encouraged by Premier Kathleen Wynne’s assertion that she hasn’t ruled out using back-towork legislation.

“We hoping to catch government’s ear, and help reinforce them to put pressure to get both sides back to the table,” Calma said.

“We need to remind them to focus on the students, because students are the ones who are suffering.”