THUNDER BAY – Teachers at Confederation College will hit the picket line on Monday morning.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union on Sunday night confirmed the final offer made by 12,000 college faculty members at 24 colleges across the province had been rejected by the College Employer Council.
Faculty is eligible to walk off the job as of 12:01 a.m. on Monday.
The college confirmed classes for all academic programming have been cancelled for the duration of the strike.
“Confederation College will ensure that our students have the opportunity to complete their year. It is important to note that no student at an Ontario college has ever lost their year due to a strike,” school administration said in a release issued on Sunday evening.
School officials ask the public to exercise caution and patience and to be respectful if crossing picket lines at the college.
“The union has confirmed that the public should expect picket lines at each of the four entrances to the Thunder Bay campus, as well as a picket line at the entrance to the Aviation Centre of Excellence. At this time, there are no planned picket lines for our regional campuses,” the statement continued.
The school stressed all academic delivery has ceased at the college, including workforce development and contract training, continuing and distance education, co-op and work placements, apprenticeships, academic upgrading and international collaborative and dual-credit programming.
“This means all classes have been cancelled until further notice.
Campus buildings, both in Thunder Bay and in the region, will remain open during the walk-out, though reduced hours may be in effect.
The SUCCI Wellness Centre – Minowaadiziiwin, health centre, children and family centre an bookstore will also remain open. Food service at the Ryan Hall cafeteria will also remain operational from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
The public is being asked not to use the college’s roadways for through traffic and those coming to campus should expect delays.
OPSEU said their latest offer was rejected, leaving them with no choice but to walk off the job.
“On Oct. 14, we presented Council with a streamlined offer that represented what faculty consider to be the bare minimum we need to ensure quality education for students and treat contract faculty fairly,” said J.P. Hornick, chair of the union bargaining team, in a release issued on Sunday. “We carefully crafted a proposal that responded to Council’s concerns about costs in a fair and reasonable way.
“Unfortunately, Council refused to agree on even the no-cost items, such as longer contracts for contract faculty and academic freedom. This leaves us with no choice but to withdraw our services until such time as our employer is ready to negotiate seriously.”
The union accuses the Council of seeking to reduce the number of full-time faculty and using more contract workers with no job security, a WalMart model of education, Hornick said.
OPSEU’s president Warren (Smoky) Thomas called the situation regrettable.
“Our union has a track record of getting deals done without work stoppages,” he said. “Unfortunately, that has not happened in this case. Nonetheless, I encourage the colleges to get back to the table so we can wrap this up swiftly, for the good of students and faculty alike.”
The colleges say if they accept the union demands it will add $250 million a year to annual cost and eliminate hundreds of contract jobs.
"This strike is completely unnecessary and unfair to hundreds of thousands of students. We should have had a deal based on our final offer. It is comparable to, or better than, recent public-sector settlements with teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals, and Ontario public servants – most of which were negotiated by OPSEU," said Sonia Del Missier.
