Striking Confederation College faculty to attend Queen's Park rally

A group of Confederation College faculty will be travelling to Queen's Park on Thursday for a rally they hope will get talks restarted as a province-wide strike by full-time college faculty continues through its third week.

No talks between the faculty represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Employer Council (CEC) have taken place since the strike began on Oct. 16.

"The mediator has let our bargaining team know that the [CEC] is not willing to move on the last proposal they put forward," OPSEULocal 732, which represents the about 150 striking faculty members at Thunder Bay's Confederation College.

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Ward is among the ones from Confederation that will be travelling to Queen's Park on Thursday morning for the rally; she said thousands of faculty members and union representatives from colleges across Ontario to attend.

The hope is the rally will get talks restarted, Ward said.

"Our goal will be to have the government influence the [CEC] to get to the table and negotiate with us in a fair and reasonable way," she said. "We are flexible, we are open, and we really want to get this deal done."

The group will be returning to Thunder Bay on Thursday evening, Ward said.

Outstanding issues include faculty contracts and the ratio of full-time to part-time faculty members.

Not about wages

"This isn't just a typical bargaining round where we're trying to negotiate issues of money," Ward said. "If this was about wage increases, we would've settled in July; the two tables are very, very close in that regard."

"This is really a social movement about what is happening to the labour force, and it isn't just for the college system," she said. "It isn't just about the college system, this is about what is happening in every sector."

"We are teaching the next generation, and we believe that a more fair and reasonable employment opportunity should exist for them."

Picket lines are set up at Confederation College's main campus in Thunder Bay, as well as at the school'sAviation Centre of Excellence building off Arthur Street.