Students at the Brockville and Kingston St. Lawrence College campuses staged walkouts on Thursday afternoons to join the picket lines with striking support workers.
Negotiations between the College Employer Council (CEC) and Ontario Public Sector Employee Union (OPSEU) broke down a little over a week ago, and support staff workers represented by the union have been on the picket lines all around Ontario since then.
After speaking with striking workers last week, Maddy Smith, a student in the social service worker program at SLC, said after hearing about the workers concerns around funding for students and student programs that she thought support on the lines from students themselves would be important.
Smith organized with other students to stage a walkout at 1PM on Thursday, citing the effect that the absence of support staff workers has on students themselves and changes that have already been implemented like the closure of full scale libraries at SLC’s Brockville and Cornwall campuses.
She says even in just a week and a half of absence from support staff workers in colleges, students are feeling the impact, especially those who have seen services like counselling or facilitation of work placements delayed.
“It’s been really a frustrating process for [placements] because all of our placement is done through support staff,” Smith said.
“Our vaccination processing is done through them for placement. So it’s been a bit stressful because my placements coming up next semester and I have no idea what’s going on with that.”
To show their frustration and voice support for the striking staff, Smith said about 50 students walked out of class in Kingston on Thursday while close to 100 did in Brockville.
She says that there also hasn’t really been any direction for students to navigate without the use of support staff if the strike is prolonged.
“I’ve had no communication from anybody but the but the support staff in terms of kind of what to expect,” Smith said.
“And even they’re not sure what to expect so it’s it’s quite frustrating.”
For their part, St. Lawrence College published a list of FAQs on their website informing students about what services would be available and impacted, but the school did not return request for comment in time for publication.
Many services at the college have already been greatly impacted by the strike just over a week in, including delays in issuing student cards, appointments and phone calls unavailable at the financial aid and career services offices, and delays in counselling intake and accessibility services.
Striking OPSEU workers are into their second week on the picket lines, and Local President at St. Lawrence College Amanda Shaw says morale has remained high amongst workers, but the student walkout helped to provide a further boost.
Shaw says in general they feel supported by the public.
“We’ve had a lot of donations, a lot of people come through our lines, a lot of people coming out to picket with us as well, including students,” Shaw said.
“We’ve also had a lot of support from not only our faculty unions, our faculty union at the campuses, but also from other unions in the area and labor councils and other organizations have been out to support, which has been wonderful.”
Shaw says that employees are fighting primarily for job security in their own contracts, but feel that in fighting for their own positions, they’re fighting for student services as well.
She says students have recognized that and showed support.
“They’re out here fighting for us as well because they acknowledge how big a role support staff play in the college experience for students, not just with support, but ensuring that they have a well-rounded college experience,” Shaw said.
“They [students at the Kingston campus] also been hearing about what’s happening on the smaller campuses, which is also causing them to take action and voice their concerns as well.”
Shaw added that the concerns are not just limited to St. Lawrence College, but all across Ontario pointing to underfunding by the provincial government.
The CEC, at this time, has stated that a strike won’t change their position, and CEO Graham Lloyd said that is due to impossible demands made by the union.
“If OPSEU is going to insist on all these demands, then negotiations will not work, and mediation is the only solution. It’s a simple choice for OPSEU, drop these demands or let a mediator/arbitrator decide,” Lloyd said.
“This strike will not make the unreasonable demands affordable or reasonable.”
In a statement citing an interview with Lloyd, the CEC said that the following demands made by OPSEU are impossible.
- A guarantee of no campus or college mergers or closures for three years.
- A guarantee of no staff reductions for any reason for three years.
- A prohibition on contracting out any services, regardless of circumstance (for example, snow plowing at smaller or satellite campuses).
- New restrictions on support staff work, prohibiting managers or faculty from doing even simple tasks, such as turning off the lights or checking on water leaks.
Shaw added that for their part, OPSEU’s bargaining team is prepared to return to the negotiating table at any time.
