‘It’s over’: Fanshawe College students express relief as agreement to end Ontario college strike is reached

CTV London’s Sean Irvine brings the reaction from Fanshawe College as five week strike comes to an end.

A five-week strike at Ontario colleges will end Thursday as support staff prepare to return to work.

A tentative agreement between the College Employer Council and OPSEU was announced overnight, setting the stage for the strike to come to an end.

Word spread slowly on the Fanshawe College campus on Wednesday as most classes are on hiatus for study week.

However, among the students present, most appeared unaware that the dispute, which affected 800 campus support workers, had been resolved pending a ratification vote.

“I didn’t know it was over! Oh, that’s good!” remarked a pair of students.

With word spreading, others expressed relief that normal operations would resume.

Throughout the dispute, some have struggled to access student services and equipment.

“Our labs were constantly missing equipment and stuff like that because it wasn’t getting repaired fast enough. And now our testing will be able to be in class again as opposed to being online,” said Randy Buttigieg, who is studying electrical engineering.

The tentative agreement will be revealed to OPSEU support staff members in a series of information meetings.

Prior to the strike, the union had demanded the protection of 10,000 jobs and 650 college programs. Colleges have faced significant cutbacks and revenue losses since the number of international students was mandated to be reduced.

Still, Fanshawe support staff expect the best agreement possible.

“Especially that job security piece that we’ve been waiting for with all the layoffs and the low funding across the province,” said Tam Visser, the vice-chair of Local 109 representing Fanshawe workers. “That is the one piece we were waiting on. So, I’m really excited to hear what they were able to negotiate for that.”

Visser acknowledged the strike was beginning to take a toll on her members and students who face academic and accommodation challenges.

“The student support services are so important, and the students are the future of our country. So, having that funding that we need and being able to support our students in the best possible way, while also protecting these great jobs for people was really, really important to us,” she said.

While most students told CTV News spoke with express support for the strike action, they also agreed with the decision by colleges to keep the doors open during the dispute.

“From my perspective, it would have really disrupted my career if they had shut the college down, so I wouldn’t have enjoyed that too much,” said Buttigieg.