Students Still Fear a Province-wide Academic Strike

TORONTO , Jan. 14 /CNW/ - Ontario's college and college-university students are demanding that both bargaining teams of the college's academic staff and management go back to the bargaining table following yesterday's province-wide strike vote, says the College Student Alliance (CSA).

"Students are seriously worried that in the near future they will be pulled out of their learning environments and faced with the academic staff walking a picket line," says Justin Fox , President of the College Student Alliance. "Both sides need to remember that college students as well as the taxpayers are footing the bill and as such a greater emphasis must be placed on reaching a negotiated settlement."

Yesterday in a province-wide strike vote, 57.03 per cent of Ontario's full-time academic staff voted in favour of giving their union, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), a strike mandate and the ability to pull them off the job if negotiations don't progress in their favour. Compared to the last round of bargaining's strike vote, which yielded a voter turnout of 65.5 per cent with 80.4 percent voting in favour of a strike.

"The goal now must be for both sides to go back to the bargaining table and stay there until a new collective agreement is reached without a work stoppage," adds Fox.

In anticipation of the results, concerned students and parents took to www.collegestrike.ca to vent their concerns, frustrations and fears of a potential province-wide strike. Collegestrike.ca was designed to give students and all concerned up-to-date information, the straight facts and a place for them to express themselves.

The College Student Alliance (CSA) is an advocacy and services organization, which has been proudly serving Ontario's college and college-university students since 1975. The CSA currently represents 17 colleges and 25 student councils with over 125,000 full-time student members throughout the province.

For further information: Tyler Charlebois, Director of Advocacy, College Student Alliance, T: [phone], E: [email protected]; Justin Fox, President, College Student Alliance, T: [phone], ext. 4524, E: [email protected]