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Classes cancelled as strike hits Algonquin College in Perth BY DESMOND DEVOY
desmond.devoy@metroland.com
All classes were cancelled on Monday and Tuesday for all 300 students at Algonquin College’s Perth campus, after their unionized workers went on strike. The strike was called at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, after the province’s community colleges failed to strike a deal with OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union). The Perth campus has about 12 full-time employees who are covered by OPSEU, and at least six other fulltime, “partial load” employees, who are now walking the picket line outside of 6 Craig St. Rod Bain, the picket captain for the striking workers, said he was “definitely disappointed” that the strike had to be called, as he tried to keep warm in the fall chill on Monday afternoon. “We are on strike for the students, to generate better conditions for them,” said Bain. “It would’ve been much nicer to carry on with the semester, (with) no disruption to students.” There are still course materials online and reading schedules that students can still access so students “keep up on their readings,” the masonry teacher said. This was the second time Bain has been on the picket line – he was on strike the last time the community college system saw a strike, in 2006. That strike lasted two-and-a-
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From left, striking Algonquin College (Perth) OPSEU members on the picket line along Craig Street on Monday, Oct. 16. From left, Laura Elliott, Andrew Pamenter, Rod Bain, Jill Reeves, Monique Cochrane, and Kathryn Reilander. half weeks. “It wasn’t too bad,” he said of the 2006 strike. One of the key demands that the union is seeking is more academic freedom. “Unlike universities, there really
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isn’t a contractual obligation for academic freedom,” for college teachers, he charged. Another union concern centres on staffing. Bain said that as much as 80 per cent of the community college system is made up of part-time employ-
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ees, and “that’s been increasing,” since 2006, he said. Part-time staff receive “no benefits. You can be laid off at any point.” They are also subject to “term contracts,” and “part time does not pay very well. They have to work See STRIKE page P2
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