Faculty members from Ontario’s 24 Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology may be on strike as of this coming Tuesday (March 7), including those at the local campus of Confederation College.
“Classes will cease once the strike starts, if it starts,” interim campus manager Michael Cameron noted yesterday. “Everything will basically be postponed.”
The local campus has two full-time and 17 part-time faculty members.
The strike would affect all classes, including those offered at the college through Contact North—Northern Ontario’s distance education and training network.
Work placements also will be suspended.
About 60 full-time and 40 part-time students are registered here.
“Faculty is seeking improvements to the workload formula which could result in more full-time teaching positions,” Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Leah Casselman said in a letter to members and supporters on Wednesday.
“This will hopefully benefit the thousands of part-time and sessional teachers who are not unionized because the law doesn’t allow it,” she added.
“OPSEU has launched a campaign to make it legal for part-time college workers to join a union,” she noted.
The union also is asking for more teachers, smaller classes, and more faculty time for students.
A prolonged strike potentially could mean students would have to make up for lost classes.
Cameron noted Confederation College students begin their winter break week on March 13.
Should the strike continue through that week, “it should be time for them to come to some sort of an agreement through negotiations,” with minimal impact on students’ education.
“In the past three strikes, no one has lost academic standing,” Cameron said.
Confederation College also has assembled a strike committee to make recommendations in the event the walkout goes on for a long period of time.
In the meantime, talks between OPSEU and the College Compensation and Appointments Council will continue until Tuesday.
“Both sides need to remember that college students pay to receive a quality post-secondary education and in today’s ever-changing and highly-competitive workforce, receiving that education in a timely manner is extremely important,” said Tyler Charlebois, director of advocacy for the College Student Alliance (CSA).
“OPSEU and the Council must use the remaining days leading up to March 7 to reach a fair agreement that works in all parties’ favour, including students,” he added.
In all, about 9,100 teachers, counsellors, and librarians across the college system will participate in the strike. They have been without a contract since Aug. 31, 2005.
Fort Frances Times
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