Ontario College Strike Forcefully Ends Sending Faculty and Students Back to Class

On Sunday, November 19, the Liberal government and Progressive Conservative MPPs joined forces for “back-to-work legislation” ordering 12,000 striking college teachers and their students back to class. The return ended the longest college strike in Ontario history.

Split by two parties, the New Democratic Party made it clear they objected to the force return citing ‘due diligence’ was needed and refused the unanimous consent required to pass the bill immediately.

On the other side of the aisle, the Progressive Conservative party blamed the lengthy strike on both Premier Wynne and the New Democrats.

Warren Thomas, President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union called upon a “task force” to study why over 70% of Ontario college faculty is part-time, with academic freedom being another key issue in the strike.

The contract dispute will go to binding mediation and arbitration for settlement in the coming months. The last offer from the colleges, rejected by the OPS union Thursday with a 86 percent vote, included a pay raise of 7.75 percent over four years.

On Monday, November 20, faculty reported to work, and on Tuesday over 500,000 students returned to their classes. Students who quit college can apply for a tuition refund and students who stayed enrolled can apply for up to $500 in financial “hardship” aid. This is the first time that post –secondary students have been offered compensation after a strike. Both NDP and PC parties agreed the hardship aid was too little in compensation for the student’s losses.

Ontario colleges will extend their semesters so students won’t lose their terms, trying to cram five missed weeks into two weeks which will be stressful for all involved. For any students who think they won’t be able to complete this semester, the option to withdraw is open and the student will still receive a refund.

The term will be extended two weeks to December 22 in many programs, with many colleges cancelling the winter reading week and adding “a week or two” to the school year next spring to make up for lost time.