Algonquin College will cancel classes if faculty go on strike Friday morning
Algonquin College says all classes will be temporarily suspended if professors and instructors go on strike Friday morning.
Talks will resume Thursday morning between Ontario's 24 community colleges and the College of Applied Arts and Technology-Academic employee bargaining team, which represents 16,000 full-time and partial-load professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors. The bargaining team says it will go on strike at 12:01 a.m. Friday if the College Employer Council does not agree to voluntary binding interest arbitration.
In a letter to students on Wednesday, Algonquin College President and CEO Claude Brule says the college is "doing all that we can to minimize disruption for our learners."
"While we may be facing a difficult time, I have every confidence that the Algonquin College community – all of us – will proceed in the coming days and weeks with a commitment to our values of Caring, Learning, Integrity, and Respect," Brule said.
Brule says students will receive information from the various departments on what will happen in the event of a strike. However, if there is a labour disruption, Brule says the following will happen:
- All classes (including virtual/remotely delivered courses) at the Ottawa, Pembroke and Perth campuses will be temporarily suspended. The AC Online campus programs will continue without disruption.
- Continuing Education and Corporate Training classes will continue unless students are advised otherwise by your program
- Field and clinical placements will be suspended during the full strike unless students are advised otherwise by your program
- Co-op work terms will continue
- Students will retain access to BrightSpace
- Students will be permitted to access all campuses in order to use available resources and services, such as the Library, labs, bookstores, athletic centres, Student Commons, the AC Hub, residences, and communal areas used for group work and study.
The College Employer Council, the government-mandated bargaining agent for the colleges, said the colleges are trying to avoid a labour disruption following two years of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've tried everything to avoid a strike," CEO Graham Lloyd told CTV News at Noon. "We actually approached them a year ago, before formal bargaining was scheduled to begin in July, with the view to extending the agreement for two years – spending the next two years bargaining and negotiating but avoid, at all costs, a disruption in their education."
Lloyd said the College Employer Council and the union would return to the bargaining table on Thursday.
"Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail and they will call off the strike."
OPSEU says its members rejected the college's final offer in February.
In a statement on Twitter, the bargaining team said talks would resume with "no preconditions."
"Both parties will meet Thurs. to attempt to reach a negotiated settlement prior to the strike deadline at 12.01 am Friday, March 18. If real progress is being made, we are willing to extend the strike deadline," CAAT Faculty said on Twitter.
On Monday, the chair of the faculty bargaining team said the faculty is "desperately trying to avoid a strike", and accused the CEC of refusing to bargain.
"Our members are fighting for the best education for students," JP Hornick said. "We haven't made any unreasonable demands, and everything we have asked for is easily achievable."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Follow live: Notorious killer Paul Bernardo seeks parole
Paul Bernardo, one of Canada’s most notorious killers, is seeking parole at the medium security La Macaza Institution in Quebec. He was transferred there from an Ontario maximum-security prison last year, to significant public outcry.
DEVELOPING Trudeau confirms premiers meeting 'this week,' after Trump makes major Canadian tariff threat
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be convening a meeting of all of Canada's premiers 'this week' to discuss U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's intent to impose a 25 per cent tariff on all products from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office, if border issues aren't addressed.
Ontario woman buys van with odometer rolled back almost 100,000 kilometres
An Ontario woman thought she got a good deal when she bought a van for $2,700, but later learned the odometer had been rolled back nearly 100,000 kilometres.
Canada Post strike update: 10 million parcels missed so far as Black Friday approaches
Canada Post says it's missed out on delivering an estimated 10 million parcels as a strike by more than 55,000 workers across the country continues ahead of Black Friday.
Toronto police charge woman in Taylor Swift ticket scam that cost victims $70,000
A Burlington, Ont. woman who allegedly sold fake tickets to Taylor Swift’s concerts in Toronto and scammed fans out of tens of thousands of dollars is facing charges, police say.
Bank of Canada says inflation will fade into background as it settles at 2 per cent
The Bank of Canada on Tuesday said inflation, which has been the center of attention and unhappiness for years amid rising prices, should fade into the background again as the annual rate settled back at 2 per cent.
Notorious killer Paul Bernardo appearing before Parole Board of Canada
Notorious killer Paul Bernardo is appearing before the Parole Board of Canada today for a hearing.
'Be vigilant': 24 arsons in south Edmonton under police investigation
The Edmonton Police Service now says it is investigating 24 suspicious fires in south Edmonton.
Bah, humbug! Vandal smashes Ebenezer Scrooge's tombstone used in 'A Christmas Carol' movie
If life imitates art, a vandal may be haunted by The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come for smashing a tombstone that marked the fictional grave of Ebenezer Scrooge in the English countryside.