The strike at colleges across Ontario is over after the union representing full-time support staff and the schools reached a tentative deal. <\/p>\n
Support staff at 24 Ontario colleges have reached a tentative agreement with their employer, ending a strike that extended nearly five weeks, the union representing employees says. <\/p>\n
\u201cAfter months of intensive negotiations with an incredibly difficult employer, the gains made in this agreement would not have been possible without members holding strong these last weeks,\u201d Christine Kelsey, chair of the union\u2019s bargaining team at OPSEU\/SEFPO, said in a written statement <\/a>on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n Approximately 10,000 full-time support staff walked off the job on Sept. 11. <\/p>\n Striking employees, which are represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), work in disability services, financial aid offices, employment and IT services, food services, and are employed as co-op placement coordinators, library technologists, student success coordinators, among other positions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had no choice but to fight back amidst a plan to privatize public education, as well as 10,000 job losses and over 650 program cuts across the system,\u201d Kelsey added. <\/p>\n The union confirmed that picket lines will come down Wednesday and details of the tentative agreement will be provided to workers in the afternoon. <\/p>\n Support staff will return to work on Thursday, the union noted. <\/p>\n \u201cFull-time college support staff took on a tremendous fight, and I\u2019m incredibly proud of our members for getting us to this moment,\u201d JP Hornick, president of OPSEU\/SEFPO, said in a written statement. <\/p>\n \u201cNow, we need to keep building on that momentum and show Ontario what is possible when working people stand together.\u201d<\/p>\n