Declaring the provincial government "a lost cause" when it comes to ending the strike that has kept them out of class for four weeks, a group of Fanshawe College students put the faculty in their crosshairs on Friday.
Two-dozen students armed with handmade signs and chanting "let us learn" rallied near the college's Cheapside St. entrance Friday afternoon. The students are now urging the over 12,000 instructors, counselors, and librarians at Ontario's 24 public colleges, who have been on strike since mid-October, to vote yes to the College Employer Council's latest offer.
"We are fed up... We just want to go back to school, we want to be back in the classroom," said Bethany Baglieri, who along with fellow student Michelle Wright, organized the gathering.
The pair of second year practical nursing students put the rally together after losing faith that the Ontario government would intervene to bring an end to the strike that has cancelled classes for half a million students.
"I've emailed MPP Deb Matthews, I've contacted Premier Kathleen Wynne's office. The only thing I've received back from them are generic emails, the same email they sent to every student who reached out to them," said Baglieri. "So to me, the government's help in this is a lost cause."
Fanshawe College students rally against class cancelling faculty strike, November 10, 2017. (Photo by Miranda Chant, Blackburn News)
Second year business marketing student Tori Harris braved the frigid temperatures to join the rally.
"I'm not out here standing against the teachers. I want to go back to school but they have been out here for four weeks already and it could all be for nothing if they just accept the offer," said Harris.
While suggesting the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the council might be best to head back to the bargaining table, Harris also voiced concern about losing her semester.
"I am very scared... we don't really know what to expect from here," said Harris.
Fanshawe administration posted a message to students on the college website Friday reassuring them that the fall term has not been cancelled and that plans are in the works to extend the semester.
"You can expect and plan to have your fall term studies extended up to Friday, December 22, 2017 and likely into January 2018, depending on how long the strike lasts," Fanshawe administration wrote.
No Ontario college student has ever lost their semester because of a strike.
Negotiations between the union and the colleges broke off on Monday, just five days after talks resumed for the first time in weeks. The council accused the union of "stonewalling the bargaining process" and has gone to the Ontario Labour Relations Board to take its last offer directly to striking faculty. It's a move that can only be triggered once. Union rank-and-file members will vote on the offer between November 14 and 16. The union has advised its members to reject the offer.
The council has offered enhanced full-time employment opportunities and rights for contract faculty and a 7.75% pay increase over four years, but failed to bend on new contract language around academic freedom. The union has stated the language would give faculty greater say in how courses are delivered and evaluated.
Job security and academic freedom have been the main sticking points in the dispute.
