Back-to-work legislation has officially put an end to the five-week college faculty strike.
Bill-178 passed 39 to 18 after 1pm Sunday, more than 12,000 professors, instructors, counselors, and librarians have been on the picket line since Oct. 15. The NDP slowed the Liberals push to pass the bill quickly — wanting to debate the issue — knowing legislation was inevitable.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 138 President Bernie Nawrocki says knowing the decision was being handed down doesn't make it easier for union members.
"At this point the decision was made, our position is always the same," he says. "We would have hoped a negotiated deal could have occurred, and that we could have had a collective agreement that we could have both agreed upon."
Students will be back in the classroom Tuesday, but plans to condense work into a shorter time span have yet to be finalized, according to Nawrocki.
"I understand that some documents are supposed to come out later today and there will be a meeting scheduled for tomorrow [Monday] morning and at that time we'll get a good understanding as to exactly what's going on," he says.
Nawrocki says — despite the outcome of Sundays vote — students should rest assured that teachers will resume work whole-heartedly.
"We are professionals and we will conduct ourselves in that manor and try to respect the students," he says. "We'll try to do the best we can to get things rolling."
Issues that caused teachers to hit the picket-lines will now be handled through mediated arbitration.
Nawrocki is hopeful, "issues are fairly addressed though that process, but we'll have to wait and see."