It’s been 12 days since faculty members from across Ontario walked off the job, and on Friday members from Lambton College held a rally outside the school gates.
The strike has affected 24 colleges, more than 12,000 workers and 500,000 students across the province.
No new negotiations have been planned and both Premier Kathleen Wynne and Minister of Advanced Education Deb Matthews have declined to intervene.
“I think the solution is to negotiate,” says OPSEU local 125 President Ryan Gibbs. “That’s been the biggest frustration. There have been no negotiations, there have been no agreements even in principle around the precarious work of our part-time faculty and I think that needs to happen.”
Faculty members are asking for more academic freedoms, more full-time professors and improved contract conditions for part-timers. Currently, 70% of faculty members are part-time workers.
The College Employer Council says the union proposals would hamper hiring flexibility and add $250-million in annual costs.
There have been three strikes by college faculty members since 1984 -- lasting an average of 23 days.
