'They are stuck in between': St. Clair College students concerned about potential faculty strike

Faculty, counsellors and librarians at Ontario’s 24 colleges will be in a legal strike position as of Jan. 4, 2025.

“It's a bit concerning for students,” Rishi Vatish told CTV News Thursday.

He’s the president of the Student Representative Council (SRC) for St. Clair College.

Although the legal strike notice was only made official late Wednesday evening, Vatish said he already had some students coming to his office to talk about their concerns.

Students, according to Vatish, understand the college needs to balance their budget but students also deserve the best faculty money can buy.

“They (students) are stuck in between,” said Vatish. “If their voices need to be heard, we will make sure they're heard.”

Vatish said the SRC is meeting with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities as well as the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) in early January.

“Unrealistic” demands

The College Employer Council (CEC) is not-for-profit which negotiates for all 24 colleges in the province.

They will resume mediation with OPSEU negotiators on Jan. 6.

Both sides told CTV News Thursday they are far apart in their negotiations.

CEC CEO Graham Lloyd said OPSEU is asking for improvements that will cost the system one billion dollars.

He said the union wants five additional weeks for “self-directed time” in addition to their nine weeks vacation.

Plus, he said faculty want to reduce their time in the classroom from 12 hours to less than nine.

“These demands are something that, colleges couldn't accept in the best of times, but especially in the current climate,” Lloyd said.

The CEC is projecting the cap on international students will come with a $1.7 billion loss in revenue over two years.

Since they cannot carry a deficit under Ontario laws, Lloyd said OPSEU’s demands are “unrealistic.”

“We've extended additional time for their teaching and preparation. We've extended them over-time that wasn't existing before,” Lloyd said. “We don't understand why they are insisting on what they are insisting on.”

Union disputes figures

“Quite honestly, they’re seeking concessions,” Ravi Ramkissoonsingh told CTV News. “We’re looking for improvements and they’re looking for many, many ways to make things worse for us.”

Ramkissoonsingh said they also dispute the CEC’s costing of their requests.

“We don’t accept those figures,” he said. “We sometimes do wonder if they're a little confused because the system actually made $1 billion this past year.”

Ramkissoonsingh said college administrators have “not been responsible stewards” while also being overly reliant on international students.

The union also accuses colleges of “administrative bloating.”

“Over the last decade, we've added just under 100,000 students, but only 500 full time faculty have been hired during that time throughout the system while administrators have grown by three times that much [by] 1,500 [administrators],” Ramkissoonsingh said.

School likely to resume

Just because OPSEU is in a legal strike position Jan. 4, 2025, doesn’t mean the strike will begin, according to both sides.

They will return for mediation dates Jan. 6 through Jan. 8, with hopes of inking a deal without a labour disruption or binding arbitration.

OPSEU said they wanted a strike deadline to put extra pressure on negotiators to get a deal done.

If mediation fails, Ramkissoonsingh said the union must still give the colleges five days notice before taking any actions be they work-to-rule or a full-blown strike.