College strike enters fifth week

Classes are cancelled at Algonquin College after the union representing college workers rejected a final deal ahead of the 12:01 a.m. Monday strike deadline. (Jim O'Grady/CTV Ottawa)

Students at Algonquin College and La Cite are starting a fifth week out of the classroom.

This is day 29 of the strike by 12-thousand faculty members at Ontario’s 24 colleges.

Faculty begin voting on the latest offer from the colleges tomorrow. The College Employer Council asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board to organize the vote after talks broke down on November 6. The College Employer Council accused OPSEU of stonewalling the bargaining process.

OPSEU is urging its members to reject the latest offer. In a statement, the union said a major sticking point in the talks has been the colleges’ refusal to entertain new contract language around academic freedom.

On Friday, Algonquin College announced the fall semester will be extended until Friday, December 22 and will start again on Tuesday, January 2.  The final exam week of December 9 to 16 will be used for classes.

La Cite says the fall term will extend into January, but it’s not known yet by how many weeks.