NDP stands with OPSEU/SEFPO members as strike hits two-week mark

QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Shadow Minister for Colleges, Universities, Research, Excellence & Security, MPP Peggy Sattler (London West), is calling on Doug Ford’s Conservatives to stop the cuts and invest in Ontario’s public colleges as OPSEU/SEFPO college support staff mark two weeks on the picket lines.

“College workers have now spent two weeks walking the line for job security, fairness, and the future of public postsecondary education...this is beyond unacceptable. These are the people who keep our colleges running, as IT staff, registrars, co-op coordinators, academic advisors, librarians, or other front-line supports. College students rely on these staff to get the services they need to be successful.

“Instead of making the investments necessary to stabilize our college system, Ford has gutted college funding. Are we even surprised by his actions anymore? Ontario already spends the least per student in the country, and Ford cut another $2 billion from post-secondary education. Those cuts have cost thousands of jobs and forced hundreds of programs to shut down.

“With mediation talks resuming tomorrow, what we do in the coming days will define this moment in negotiations. Workers are showing up in good faith, stronger than ever, and ready to bargain. The College Employer Council needs to be prepared to do the same. The Ontario NDP stands strong with OPSEU/SEFPO members holding the line for secure jobs, student success and a system that delivers the skilled college graduates local economies depend on.”