Students at Algonquin College and La Cite will find out today if they will be heading back to class soon.
The 12,000 striking faculty members at colleges across the province wrap up voting today on a proposed contract. The College Employer Council asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board to schedule a vote on the contract after talks broke down last week.
OPSEU has urged its members to reject the contract. The Ontario Public Service Employers Union has scheduled a media conference today to discuss the results of the vote.
This is day 32 of the strike by teachers and faculty members, cancelling classes for students across Ontario. This is the longest strike in the history of Ontario college faculty.
The Algonquin College Students Association launched an ad campaign this week, urging college faculty to vote yes on the contract offer. SA President Victoria Ventura says “we respect the faculty and we’ve tried to respect the process. However, a five week work stoppage has been costly for everyone, especially students.”
Several students posted their opposition to the ad campaign on the Algonquin Students’ Association Facebook page. There were posts in oppositions to the ad campaign, with some people saying they stand with the faculty.
If faculty members accept the contract offer, students could be back in class as early as Tuesday.
Algonquin College has already announced the Fall Term will continue until December 23, and resume on January 2, 2018.
