OPSEU Local 138 president at St. Clair College Bernie Nawrocki, far left, speaks with picketing faculty at the main Windsor campus, November 8, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.OPSEU Local 138 president at St. Clair College Bernie Nawrocki, far left, speaks with picketing faculty at the main Windsor campus, November 8, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Windsor

College Faculty Pressing On

Striking faculty at Ontario's 24 colleges continue to walk the picket lines as negotiations remain at a stalemate.

The head of the bargaining team for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) had warned Tuesday that the current work stoppage could result in over half a million students losing a semester of school. The impasse has led the Ontario Labour Relations Board to force a faculty vote on the latest contract offer by the College Employee Council, which represents the colleges.

At St. Clair College in Windsor, union members continue to have informational pickets at the school's main entrances.

Bernie Nawrocki, president of OPSEU Local 138 at the college, says a forced vote is not what they were hoping for.

"We would have rather had both teams remain at the table and bang out an offer," says Nawrocki. "Obviously that didn't occur and we're a little disappointed that the council waited until now to bring their offer to us because they had that opportunity all along."

With over three weeks of classroom instruction wiped out because of the strike, the union says the students are feeling the heat too. Striking faculty at St. Clair College's main campus tell BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that a student rally was supposed to happen earlier Wednesday morning at the college, but it did not materialize.

Nawrocki says he is well aware of the students' concerns, including lost tuition and increased room-and-board expenses.

"Some of the students are asking for compensation for lost time and increased costs," says Nawrocki.

The strike is forcing colleges to redo their contingency plans. St. Clair College, for example, is cutting short its holiday break by extending the fall semester to end on December 22 and resuming right after the new year. The start of the winter 2018 semester would be delayed.

The College Employee Council says it has provided a proposal to end the strike and on Monday accused the union of stonewalling. College bargaining chairperson Sonia Del Missier says the proposal is fair and would have likely put students and faculty back into the classrooms and labs.

“OPSEU’s insistence on continuing the strike is a terrible outcome for students and faculty,” said Del Missier in a statement Monday. “We addressed all faculty priorities and the offer that is available for faculty right now – on the table – should have ended this strike.”

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