Staff
Support staff at community colleges across Ontario are on strike after negotiations failed to reach deal by midnight yesterday.
That affects 240 support staff for Confederation College, including three at the local campus.
A final round of bargaining with support staff—represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union—began Monday, with OPSEU being in a legal strike position as early as today.
“We tried to reach an accommodation with management negotiators but it became very clear as we approached the strike deadline that they were not prepared to meet us on terms we could accept,” Rod Bemister, chair of the bargaining committee representing the support workers, said in a press release.
Confederation College will remain open throughout the strike, and courses will be running once students return to class next week, president Jim Madder confirmed earlier this week.
This includes online programs.
The college also has moved some administrative staff into roles where they can answer any questions students have and move ahead with programming.
About 100 full-time students attend the campus here. Programs and courses will continue to run as regularly scheduled, with staff doing their best to maintain business continuity with minimal disruptions.
At the Thunder Bay campus, recreation activities will be a no-go while some library services also won’t be available. But student activities will run as planned.
The college also has established a website—www.confederationc.on.ca/strikeupdate—to keep the public informed of any updates
With the local campus attached to Fort Frances High School, staff, students, and parents have been advised by the Rainy River District School Board to enter the grounds by the lane between J.W. Walker School and FFHS one way off Keating Avenue, with traffic exiting on the north lane to McIrvine Road.
Parents have been asked to drop off their children in the turnaround in front of the school only.
Bus traffic also has been re-routed so the buses enter the “exit lane” on McIrvine, which will be designated as two-way traffic.
