Thursday, October 19, 2017
More than 12,000 OPSEU-represented instructors, counsellors, and librarians at Ontario’s Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology (CAAT) struck picket lines across the province on Monday after their employer rejected the union’s latest offer.
At issue is the increasing precariousness of work, job security, privatization, and academic freedom. Contract faculty members put in long hours for a fraction of what full-time faculty members are paid.
These workers deserve fair pay, sick days, and recognition of seniority. Mental health counselling services are being contracted out, with this privatization leading to fewer services for students.
AMAPCEO believes that Ontario’s education sector is no place for precarious work. Our province’s students deserve a quality education and services delivered by workers who are treated fairly, with good full-time jobs, job security, and a reliable income.
Students succeed when they’re supported by instructors who have adequate time and stability to develop curriculum, teach courses, provide out-of-class support, and use their own learnings to improve courses term-over-term.
AMAPCEO stands in solidarity with our OPSEU colleagues and encourages the employer to return to the bargaining table to negotiate a fair agreement for these workers, and a better deal for Ontario’s students.
Learn more about the strike and the issues at play at collegefaculty.org.
You can show your support for our OPSEU colleagues by sending a letter of support or by following the campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
College strike the tip of the temp-work iceberg, expert says (Toronto Star) »
‘Decent education’ at stake: Union (Welland Tribune) »
College strikes a symptom of broken business model: Cohn (Toronto Star) »
(Photo by Julius Arscott)