Ontario college strike: what you need to know in eastern Ontario

College faculty are on strike across Ontario starting today, including four colleges in eastern Ontario: Algonquin, La Cit, St. Lawrence and Loyalist.

• More than 12,000 Ontario college faculty walk off the job
• Why Ontario college faculty members are on strike

The faculty's union, OPSEU, says it wants a number of part-time staff hired to match the number of full-timestaff.

It's also pushing for more job security and academic freedom.

The College Employer Council said giving the union what it wants would cost $250 million, forcing it to slash jobs and affectthe quality of education.

The council is proposing to improve the way contract faculty move to full-time positionsand a smaller, more gradual wage hike than the union wants.

While the labour dispute is ongoing, the majority of classes are cancelled in eastern Ontario's affected colleges.

Here's a look at what the colleges are telling students.

Algonquin College

• Around 20,000 students affected.
• Classes are cancelled, except continuing education classes after 6 p.m.
• Clinical placements are cancelled.
• Classes in collaborative programs taught by faculty from other universities will continue.
• Campus,residences and Students' Association facilitiesare open.
• OC Transpo buses that come through campus are being detoured, except for buses using Baseline Station.

The college has set up a strike information page.

La Cit

• Around 5,000 students affected.
• Classes are cancelled, except online courses.

Strike updates are being posted on the school's website and social media.

St. Lawrence

• Around 6,000 full-time students affected.
• All classes are cancelled, except some field placement activities.
• Campuses are open, managers and support staff are working and most services are unaffected.
• Kingston Transit saidits buses won't be servicing the Kingston campustransfer point during the strike. Check the list of detours here.

The school has set up a page for strike updates.

Loyalist

• Campus is open but regular daytime classes are cancelled.
• Some online and continuing education courses are still happening.
• Services such as mentoring, tutoring, athletics and the career centre will continue.
• The school says to expect pickets and to be courteous and careful if crossing a line. It encourages people to take public transportation, get dropped off or carpool to reduce potential traffic delays.
• There are detours on Belleville Transit's routes 7 and 10 during the strike.
• The number of students affected was not immediately available.

Loyalist College has a labour negotiation update page as well.