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- 2002-10-07
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Picket lines are up at Algonquin College as faculty at Ontario’s 24 colleges began a strike Monday morning.
About 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians, both full-time and “partial load” employees who work seven to 12 hours a week, walked off the job.
In a letter to students, Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen repeated her promise that no one would lose the academic year because of the strike.
“No student at an Ontario college has ever lost their year due to a strike. I give you my word that this will be true at Algonquin College at the end of this work stoppage.”
The College Employer Council, which bargains on behalf of all the colleges, called the strike “completely unnecessary” and unfair to hundreds of thousands of college students.
The employer’s final offer was comparable to or better than settlements reached by other public sector employees, including teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals and Ontario public servants, said chief negotiator Sonia Del Missier in a bulletin issued Sunday night.
The final offer from the College Employer Council included a wage increase of 7.75 per cent over four years.
Picket line at Algonquin
A key demand for the union is an increase in the proportion of faculty with full-time jobs. In a bulletin, the union accused colleges of creating a “Walmart model of education” by reducing the role of full-time faculty and “exploiting underpaid contract workers who have no job security beyond one semester.”
Both sides presented revised proposals over the last few days as the clock ticked toward a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Monday.
“Unfortunately, (management) refused to agree on even the no-cost items, such as longer contracts for contract faculty and academic freedom,” said JP Hornick, the chief negotiator for the union, in a release. “This leaves us with no choice but to withdraw our services until such time as our employer is ready to negotiate seriously.”
Faculty also want more say in academic decision making and college governance.
Management maintains the union demands are unaffordable. “The college cannot accept the union demands that would ultimately add more than $250 million to annual costs, eliminate thousands of contract faculty jobs, and jeopardize the quality of college programs,” said a statement.
There was no indication on when talks might resume.
At both Algonquin College and La Cité Collégiale, regular classes are cancelled.
At Algonquin, continuing education classes in the evening are going ahead. Computer labs, study spaces and meetings rooms also remain open.
In her letter to students, Jensen urged them to “treat the days ahead as a chance to review your course material and connect with your classmates. Form study or discussion groups. Read ahead. Work on long-term projects. You will eventually be returning to your classes and it’s important to be ready when that happens.”
Picket line at Algonquin
jmiller@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
About 12,000 professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians, both full-time and “partial load” employees who work seven to 12 hours a week, walked off the job.
In a letter to students, Algonquin College President Cheryl Jensen repeated her promise that no one would lose the academic year because of the strike.
“No student at an Ontario college has ever lost their year due to a strike. I give you my word that this will be true at Algonquin College at the end of this work stoppage.”
The College Employer Council, which bargains on behalf of all the colleges, called the strike “completely unnecessary” and unfair to hundreds of thousands of college students.
The employer’s final offer was comparable to or better than settlements reached by other public sector employees, including teachers, college support staff, hospital professionals and Ontario public servants, said chief negotiator Sonia Del Missier in a bulletin issued Sunday night.
The final offer from the College Employer Council included a wage increase of 7.75 per cent over four years.
Picket line at Algonquin
A key demand for the union is an increase in the proportion of faculty with full-time jobs. In a bulletin, the union accused colleges of creating a “Walmart model of education” by reducing the role of full-time faculty and “exploiting underpaid contract workers who have no job security beyond one semester.”
Both sides presented revised proposals over the last few days as the clock ticked toward a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. Monday.
“Unfortunately, (management) refused to agree on even the no-cost items, such as longer contracts for contract faculty and academic freedom,” said JP Hornick, the chief negotiator for the union, in a release. “This leaves us with no choice but to withdraw our services until such time as our employer is ready to negotiate seriously.”
Faculty also want more say in academic decision making and college governance.
Management maintains the union demands are unaffordable. “The college cannot accept the union demands that would ultimately add more than $250 million to annual costs, eliminate thousands of contract faculty jobs, and jeopardize the quality of college programs,” said a statement.
There was no indication on when talks might resume.
At both Algonquin College and La Cité Collégiale, regular classes are cancelled.
At Algonquin, continuing education classes in the evening are going ahead. Computer labs, study spaces and meetings rooms also remain open.
In her letter to students, Jensen urged them to “treat the days ahead as a chance to review your course material and connect with your classmates. Form study or discussion groups. Read ahead. Work on long-term projects. You will eventually be returning to your classes and it’s important to be ready when that happens.”
Picket line at Algonquin
jmiller@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/JacquieAMiller
查看原文...
