Classes and activities at Conestoga College’s Doon Campus are temporarily suspended Tuesday due to “large-scale picketing” taking place at the campus, the college said on its website.
“The decision to close was made with an abundance of caution for the safety of our college community as we help mitigate anticipated traffic disruptions in and around campus,” the college said.
Hundreds of college support workers from other college campuses across southwestern Ontario were picketing at the entrance of Doon Campus.
By noon, several dozen picketers were walking around the entrance and through the intersection of Homer Watson Boulevard and Conestoga College Boulevard.
Vikki Poirier, president of OPSEU Local 238, which represents full-time support staff at Conestoga College, said it was a hectic morning at the campus.
She said the demonstration was a show of solidarity and to illustrate the mass number of support staff that keep colleges running.
“These are the things that are going to take place over the coming weeks to show that we need [College Employer Council] to take us seriously and our bargaining team serious and go back to the table,” Poirier told CBC News.
Vikki Poirier is the president of OPSEU Local 238. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)
Negotiations between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC), which represents publicly funded colleges, began in June.
In September, over 10,000 workers went on strike, spurred by job and programming cuts that the union told CBC in August will result in 10,000 job losses.
College support staff represented by OPSEU are employed in 150 full-time job classifications across various departments, such as disability services, libraries, student services, facilities, trades, co-op programs, the registrar’s office and financial aid.
Chair of the full-time support bargaining team, Christine Kelsey, told CBC News on Tuesday morning that workers are banding together to put pressure on the colleges to get back to the negotiating table after talks broke down last week.
“We’re in week four and to be honest, it’s frustrating the colleges are not coming to the table because we could have a deal and they are refusing to come back to the table and negotiate seriously about job security,” Kelsey said.
Conestoga said impacted students will receive communication directly from their faculty about changes to their courses. Around 700 full-time support workers have walked off the job at the college.
“Employees are asked to co-ordinate with their managers whether their work can be performed remotely or from another campus location,” the college said.
It added that students and employees accessing the campus on foot will be allowed to enter.
Over 10,000 support workers across the province have been on strike since Sept. 11. (Carmen Groleau/CBC)
Frustration brews among students
The sudden cancellations of classes and the strike has left some students at Conestoga College feeling frustrated.
“It has been difficult because of everything that’s happening here, I got a message that my class was cancelled and I live an hour and a half away, so it’s exhausting,” said first-year police foundation student Ghazal Ayman.
“Every other day there’s a class that’s cancelled or an in-person class turning into online, so it’s impacting my work it’s impacting whatever is going on here and it’s really hard.”
Welding inspection student Grant Thackeray says he worries that his class will have to come back during reading week or during the holiday break to catch up on missed work.
“We’re just trying to get an education and in trades, where practice is how you get payed more and get better, missing out on practice really sucks,” he said.
