Striking support staff block vehicle entrances to Algonquin College

Striking support staff used their picket line to prevent vehicles from entering Algonquin College. CTV’s Dave Charbonneau reports.

Striking support staff blocked the vehicle entrances to Algonquin College’s Ottawa campus on Thursday, as the union escalated strike action to back demands for a new contract.

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union hosted rallies at college campuses in Ottawa and across Ontario, three days after talks broke down between the union and the College Employer Council.

The union representing 10,000 support staff began strike action on Sept. 11.

“What we’re looking at now is an escalation that is happening across the province,” JP Hornick, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, told CTV News Ottawa.

“We have support from students, from community, from other unions that have been on our lines and we’re here to say we’re not going to stop, we’re not backing down.”

Students and faculty were warned to expect delays accessing the Algonquin College campus on Woodroffe Avenue, as striking workers blocked vehicle entrances to the college.

“No learner will be penalized for being late or missing a class/deliverable because of this disruption,” Algonquin College said on its website.

“You may experience long delays at campus entrances.”

Students and faculty are urged to consider alternatives to driving, including public transit and walking.

“I was coming in to try to park at my parking spot, which I pay $400 per semester for, and the picket lines have completely blocked off the entrances to cars,” Algonquin College student Skylar Smith told CTV News Ottawa.

“I’m a student; I need the support workers for my education, but they have the right to picket, I have the right to cross it. When their rights are being held almost above my own, it’s very frustrating.”

Smith said some students had to drive home because they couldn’t access the campus.

“It’s frustrating, especially when I’m paying to be here. I need them to come work because they’re a vital part of my education,” Smith said, adding fewer students are attending classes.

Algonquin College student Marina Brule expressed frustration with the roads into the college being blocked.

“I paid to park in the college and now I’m going to be wasting my money, so it’s a little bit frustrating,“ Brule said. ”But I do support their cause. I mean, hey, we do need colleges."

Landon Medina said, “I think it’s right what they’re doing. Only issue is kind of tough getting to school.”

Algonquin College professor Jean-Francois Messier said, “I wish i could support them.”

“However, they are disrupting my work. And I’m trying to serve my students. I’m here for a three hour lab, and then I have a two hour course.”

The Ontario Public Service Employees Union said talks broke down on Monday, “after the employer and College presidents declared an impasse and refused any job security language that would clear the path of a settlement and end the strike.”

“We are walking the line to protect our work – after thousands upon thousands of layoffs across the system, there’s nothing else this fight can be about,” Christine Kelsey, chair of the full-time support staff bargaining team, said in a statement on Monday. “None of the employer’s proposals save a single job. True job security looks like protections against the elimination of jobs, not extended notice or streamlining new pathways for layoffs.”

The College Employer Council (CEC) said OPSEU moved backwards in negotiations over the weekend, adding the union demanded a ban on all contracting out “unless explicitly approved by the union” and restrictions on collaborative work.

“Support Staff employees already have protections in these areas. The current collective agreement already prohibits layoffs as a direct result of contracting out,” the College Employer Council said in a statement on Monday.

“OPSEU is going much further by insisting colleges can never contract out any services without its permission. It is not possible to operate a college that way, but we listened to the union’s concerns, and they rejected CEC’s proposed enhanced protections in this area.”

Graham Lloyd, CEO of the College Employer Council, told CTV News Ottawa the council is urging the union to resume talks.

“As it pertains to the bargaining, we’ve urged the union to get back to the bargaining table. They seem to suggest we’ve walked from the table,” he said.

In the meantime, he’s asking both students and picketers to respect each other.

“It’s important for students to be aware and to expect delays. Be respectful when crossing the picket line,” Lloyd said.

“We also expect the union to be equally respectful and allow students to get their education. Support staff claim they’re there for students, but today’s behaviour is not supportive of that.”

With files from CTV News Ottawa’s Leah Larocque and Dave Charbonneau