St. Clair professor says future of college education is at stake
CBC News | Posted: November 17, 2017 2:31 PM | Last Updated: November 17, 2017
'We expected that the College Employer Council was going to bargain in good faith. We did not see that'
After five weeks of an Ontario-wide strike, 86 per cent of faculty members who voted on their employer's last contract offer voted no.
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"We expected that the College Employer Council was going to bargain in good faith. We did not see that, so we're extremely disappointed in the result," said St. Clair College professor Pat Papadeas, who also served on the Board of Governors for the college.
On Thursday night Premier Kathleen Wynne stepped in, meeting with both the union and the College Employers Council.
It's the first time that back to work legislation has been brought into the college system, said Papadeas. She expects that it will be passed this weekend, leaving faculty no further ahead than they were five weeks ago.
"This is not the way that anyone would expect to bargain," she said. "But the parties have been so far apart on the issues we'll see where this leads."
At the heart of the issue is the amount of part-time and sessional work on College campuses. Papadeas said the issue effects workers as well as the quality of education students receive.
"What is at stake is the quality of the future of college education in this province."