College faculty vie for Wynne's attention at Kitchener picket

About two dozen college faculty were picketing outside the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown Kitchener, Ont. Monday afternoon in hopes of catching Premier Kathleen Wynne's attention. 

Wynne was scheduled to speak to the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, but picket organizer Lana-Lee Hardacre said they did not see her arrive.

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"We think they've taken her in another way that we couldn't reach her," she said, adding that she expects Wynne's handlers will also find a way to get the Premier out of the building away from the protest outside.

Those taking part in the picket are full-time and contract faculty members from Conestoga College, who have been on strike since Oct. 15. 

Hardacre, who is also president of the local union — OPSEU Local 237 — said they support Bill 148, a piece of legislation introduced in June that would require organizations to pay contract staff the same as full-time staff if they are doing the same work.

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One of the things the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is asking for in contract negotiations is equal pay for equal work, which is encompassed by Bill 148. 

"We also want her to get the [employer] council to get back to the table," Hardacre said, "Our bargaining team is in Toronto and they're prepared to meet, but there's nobody at the table on the other side."

Wynne not making any promises

Striking educators aren't the only group calling on the premier to jump-start negotiations between OPSEU and the College Employer Council, which bargains on behalf of all Ontario colleges.

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Student union leaders wrote a letter to the premier shortly after college faculty went on strike, and have a date set to meet with Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews on Oct. 26.

"What I do believe is that both sides — both the college administration and all of the people not in their classrooms today — they want to find an agreement. They really want to get kids back into the classroom," Wynne told CBC News.

She encouraged both parties to get back to the bargaining table, saying that "the only place that the agreement is going to be finalized is at the bargaining table."

However, the premier stopped short of saying she would put pressure on the College Employer Council to restart negotiations.