More than 10,000 Full-Time Ontario College Support Staff Begin Strike on Thursday

Including St. Lawrence College in Brockville, Kingston & Cornwall!

Brockville – Full-time support workers at St. Lawrence College in Brockville, Kingston and Cornwall, along with a total of 10,000 across Ontario’s 24 public colleges represented by Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union (OPSEU/SEFPO), have begun strike action today. (Thursday, September 11th)

The union says that the colleges’ bargaining agent walked away from the table on Wednesday afternoon with remaining proposals unanswered – leaving the union alone at the table for eight hours up until the deadline.

“We’ve lost 10,000 jobs across the system this year alone, and more than 650 programs in every community across the province,” said Christine Kelsey, Chair of the College Support Full-Time Bargaining Team, an assistive technologist at Algonquin College who has supported students with disabilities for nearly two decades. “With our colleges plunged into chaos, job security is key to stabilizing the system – because the future of our work is the future of student support.”

St. Lawrence College posted on their website that SLC campuses remain open and classes are running. In some cases, services could be modified or delayed. If that occurs, information will be updated on their website and emailed to students’ college email accounts.

They also noted that there could be delays accessing or leaving campus due to picket line activity.