So my teachers went on strike….
On October 16th, which is very nearly a month ago, 12 000 members of faculty at colleges across Ontario began striking after there was failure to reach an agreement between OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) and the CEC (College Employer Council). Talks slowed down majorly, with weeks between meetings, and in that time close to 500 000 students in Ontario have not been able to attend classes.
It’s a bit of a confusing situation and there’s tons of stuff on the internet that explains it all but from my understanding the main issue has been a lack of full-time job opportunities for faculty, along with stronger job security for those working under contract. I’ll link an article from The Globe And Mail here that is a little bit old, but does a better job explaining some basic info about the strike and why it began. Again, I can’t say that I’m a total expert on all of the reasons and what’s been agreed upon and what hasn’t so please continue to do your own research.
Last week, it was decided that this would go to a vote. Starting today and until Thursday, all of the striking faculty will be able to vote whether or not to accept the contract that has been offered to them. If the contract is accepted, then classes could be up and running next week. However if the contract is rejected, negotiations continue and the strike goes on. It’s of course impossible to know what exactly will come of this, but the union has asked faculty to vote no and there seems to be much support for this position.
So that’s all of the information I know, and I’ll continue to update as new stuff comes out, but now is where I’m going to get into my opinion on this whole thing -which has massively affected my life.
The time during this strike has been one of anxiety. Students have absolutely zero control over this situation, yet it completely uproots their lives. For full disclosure I am someone who has very anxious tendencies anyhow, so it is of course possible that my reaction to this situation is a bit more intense. However, I’ve spoken to many classmates and many students from other colleges and there is a common theme of stress surrounding any strike talk.
Students at my school, and probably others, recently got an e-mail from my school outlining what our new academic timetable would be, depending on whether this vote passes or not. We would be in classes until just a couple of days before Christmas, with our semester continuing after the break. That’s a significant chunk of our winter break cut out, which is of course a manageable inconvenience but is an inconvenience nonetheless. As many classes will also have final exams very soon after the winter break, it’s likely we’re expected to be studying during our time off which is definitely out of the norm. We will also be losing our second semester reading break in February. Again, if this vote does not pass (a very high possibility) our semester will likely be changed even more.
It is true that as students, and as adults, it’s sort of our job to be mature about this stuff and make school a priority. It’s definitely a “make it work moment”, as Tim Gunn would say. I’m in a fairly lucky position, as I go to school quite close to my family and have a flexible holiday schedule. There are many, many students however that are not in such a privileged position. International students came here specifically to study, and are now unable to do just that. They are likely having to extend visas and change their travel plans, which can be costly. There are many who simply live far away from their families, and were potentially counting on spending that time with them. Others may have had vacation plans that are now disrupted.
Many are also very concerned about money. In fact, one group of students did the math and have started a petition asking for $40 for every day of missed classes. It seems a bit extreme, but it makes sense. One semester, for me, costs over $3000. The semester is now not happening, so what happens with that money? Refunds of tuition are a possibility, but there are a lot of other financial hardships to do with this strike. I, and many other students, pay rent to live close to our schools. Many also rely on extra holiday working hours to make some extra income, and with the semester being extended they may be missing out on that. I can’t speak to this personally, but there have been stories of students missing out on hiring periods due to the strike. Delayed employment would of course result in financial hardships. There have been talks of colleges organizing financial aid programs for students facing money issues due to the strike, but in my opinion I just don’t see how that would work. It seems that it would be a mess, because everyone will apply. As my mother pointed out the other day, students are the customers of a business. If any other business had this situation and they were not fulfilling services that were promised, customers would be refunded.
I don’t mean to be moaning about this, and I don’t want to vilify anybody. I fully support people exercising their workers rights and I am sympathetic to faculty. In my opinion it is highly unlikely that teachers are enjoying this situation, as they are losing pay and having to spend their time picketing. I also understand that what they are asking could be very hard to give, and I’m not educated enough on the situation to be attacking either side.
I have had wonderful teachers throughout my college career. There are no hard feelings, or personal vendettas against of my faculty and I think most students feel the same way. I also do not have the answers here. I couldn’t even start to go about the best way to fix this situation, so I understand how complicated and difficult this must be for everyone. However, that doesn’t change how massive of a mess this is and how hugely this has affected so many students in a negative way. Students that had absolutely no control, and now there is intense anxiety surrounding this strike and what it will be like when we go back. Our courses are bound to be altered, and there’s definitely the potential of hugely increased work loads. That also means our quality of education is likely to be decreased, so we’re not exactly getting what we’ve paid for. As a whole, it is a garbage situation that has gotten largely out of hand.
I don’t really know how to end this properly, I get that this piece is really quite biased and possibly verging on self-indulgent but I’m just writing what I know and through the conversations I’ve had I feel like many share my anxieties. I want my teachers to be treated fairly, of course. But I also really would like to get back to school and get the education that I paid for.
