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More than 10,000 full-time support staff are on strike,after the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) failed to reach an agreement by yesterday’s deadline.
At George Brown College’s St. James campus, picketers and supporters lined the sidewalk blasting music to help bring attention to the cause. Toronto Centre NDP MPP Krystin Wong-Tam came out to support the OPSEU strike. Wong-Tam spoke today from the picket line, advocating for full-time support staff and supporting their right to strike.
“They also know that if they’re not supported, the students don’t get what they need. Everybody’s here recognizing that public education is going to be the backbone of our economy, we need it to work,” said Wong-Tam.
George Brown is just one of the locations of the strike action today; other locations include Algonquin College, Centennial, Seneca, Loyalist, Canadore College and Durham College, according to a Google Form callout posted by OPSEU last night.
OPSEU, which represents Ontario’s 24 publicly-funded colleges, has been meeting with CEC since June to negotiate a new deal for full-time support staff who make up over 150 different roles in the college system. These positions can include co-op coordinators, disability services, and library technologists.
CEC said in a press release that they proposed wage and benefit improvements of more than $145 million, as well as increased recall rights and shift premiums, among other offers. In an earlier press release, the CEC said that OPSEU’s demands would mean more than $900 million in additional costs to colleges, a figure disputed by the union.
According to OPSEU, in the last year, 10,000 staff and faculty have been laid off and more than 650 programs have been cut within the Ontario college system. OPSEU says they are fighting for fair contracts for the full-time staff who serve current and future students.
“We have 10,000 more workers on strike. If Ford continues its path, we won’t have a strong, publicly-funded college sector which we absolutely need for our workforce for tomorrow,” said Wong-Tam.
OTR reached out to Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra’s office for comment on the strike action, but did not hear back in time for publication.
No AI tools were used in the production of this piece.
