OPSEU Rally

Hundreds of people rallied outside Mohawk College on Friday to support striking faculty. 12 000 faculty members have been out of the classroom and on the picket lines since Monday when talks broke off between the colleges and the union and now students are demanding the province step in.

“I would much rather be in the classroom than be out here but its important for us to be out here to make sure everybody is being treated fairly.” Stephen Adams, Mohawk Professor.

The union says it wants a 50/50 split between full time faculty and contract faculty, more job security and more say in academic decision making. But the chair of the college employer council has called those demands “unaffordable” suggesting they’ll cost another $250 million annually.

NDP leader Andrea Horwath was there to show her support urging the government to get both sides back to table and students back in the classroom. More than half a million students have been impacted.

A rally was also held at Niagara College.

Members of student unions from a number of colleges have sent a letter to Premier Kathleen Wynne demanding the end of the strike and more than 90 000 students have signed an online petition demanding that tuition be refunded for every day the strike is on. The student leaders have requested a meeting with Wynne, Education Minister Deb Matthews and the union and college representatives on Oct. 26.

No new talks are planned.