Fanshawe College to cancel classes if faculty strike

All classes at Fanshawe College in London will be cancelled if college faculty in Ontario follow through with their threat to walk off the job next Monday

Michele Beaudoin, the VP of Student Services at Fanshawe, told CBC's London Morning Wednesday that while classrooms will go dark, the campus would remain open and most services would continue to operate as usual.

"The students will be able to go to the student wellness centre, use the gym, OCAA varsity sports will continue to run, " Beaudoin.

She said library staff will able to assist students who may want to "get ahead" in their studies.

Beaudoin said any student who is currently on a co-op placement would be able continue to work and the college would continue to offer co-op preparation workshops.

Fanshawe students who use public transit would be dropped off at locations on campus still to be determined by London Transit.

Beaudoin conceded there could be difficulties for students in vehicles trying to cross picket lines.

"We will have a security presence at the entrances of the college and wherever picket lines are situated. And certainly in my experience … students are always treated with respect and let through the lines."

Union rejects latest offer

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union, which represents college faculty, said Monday's strike deadline was set after the College Employer Council walked away from the bargaining table Tuesday.

The College Employer Council said OPSEU rejected the colleges' final offer of settlement and then gave notice that strike action could start on October 16.

The chair of the college bargaining team says the union should allow faculty to decide by putting the offer to a vote.

The terms include a 7.75 per cent wage hike over four years, with a new full-time faculty maximum salary of 115 thousand dollars by the fall of 2020.

Local Union Rep: offer would 'make things worse'

The president of OPSEU Local 110 representing Fanshawe faculty, Darryl Bedford, said the offer is a "huge step backwards" from the employer's previous offer.

"It contains what I would characterize as a poison pill. Instead of improving  the situation for contract faculty, it would actually make things worse."

Bedford said non-union contract faculty are poorly paid. What's known as "partial load' faculty are covered by the collective agreement, but he said they are not receiving equal pay for work of equal value.

According to Bedford, 68 per cent of Fanshawe's faculty hold non-full time contract positions.

"This is the majority, and what we are concerned about is that the colleges are seeking contract language that (would allow them) to eliminate through attrition full-time positions across the province."

Bedford, who is part of OPSEU's provincial bargaining team, said it's ready to resume negotiations at any time.