Students and faculty at Ontario’s 24 pubic college’s will be returning to class this Tuesday after four weeks of being on strike.
The provincial government passed the back-to-work legislation earlier today; however, the bill to send faculty back-to-work was first introduced this past Thursday evening ensuing the college faculty’s decision to reject the College Employer Council’s (CEC) latest offer.
Faculty will be reporting to work on Monday to revise their course and complete class
preparation. Students will be able to return to their normal class schedules on Tuesday.
The length of the job action, which was the longest college strike in the history of Ontario,
will mean an extended semester for many of the 500,000 students who were effected.
For students at Conestoga College, a revised academic schedule and new semester dates will be announced shortly. However, it is confirmed that the fall semester will be extended until Dec. 22 and will resume again on Jan. 2. The college is anticipating that their winter semester will begin on Jan. 15 and their mid-winter Student Success week will not be effected.
The union and the CEC have five days to mutually agree on a mediator-arbitrator. If they are unable to do so within five days, the Minister of Labour has said they will be appointing one in order to negotiate outstanding issues between the two parties.
