CREDIT: JORDAN CROW
Around 300 faculty members at Fanshawe College and supporters of the OPSEU marched to Deb Matthews' constituency office to deliver a letter calling her to action regarding getting both parties back to the bargaining table.

On Oct. 26, Fanshawe College faculty and supporters of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) strike negotiations, held a rally at Victoria Park before marching over to Deb Matthews’ constituency office to deliver a letter. Matthews is the current Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development in the region. The letter expressed that the OPSEU want Matthews to assist in bringing both parties back to the bargaining table.

Participants of the rally gathered at 11:30 a.m. to listen to various speeches from Darryl Bedford, the president of Local 110 and a member of the OPSEU bargaining team, JP Hornick, the chair of the college faculty bargaining team, along with other union representatives supporting the OPSEU’s concerns regarding negotiations and the college system. Multiple faculty rallies have taken place in different cities across the province since the beginning of the strike.

“We have great people at our college. We have a good college. We can make it better. We can make the system better. We can fight for what we believe in,” Bedford said in his speech at the rally.

Hornick spoke with the Interrobang about what her speech at the rally focused on.

“The main message is that we need to get back to the table. But in order to do so, we need [the College Employer Council] (Council) to actually begin negotiating in earnest and engaging in discussions on quality and fairness. Right now they have rejected all of the faculty proposals and refused to even have a conversation about how to make this a better system for all of us,” Hornick said.

Following the speeches, around 300 faculty members and supporters marched in the streets of downtown London shouting: “What do we want? Fairness! When do we want it? Now!” Numerous individuals going about their day in downtown London took the time to pull out their phones and record the boisterous march filled with chanting, drum beats and whistling. The London Police assisted in directing and halting traffic to ensure everyone was safe during the march.

Once the faculty and supporters arrived at Matthews’ office, Bedford delivered the letter to a staff member working at the office. Matthews was in Toronto at the time meeting with college student association presidents regarding the halt of negotiations and top concerns from students across the province.   

“We had a message to deliver. Matthews can do more to make sure Council gets back to the table bargaining,” Bedford said.

Subsequently, the college faculty and supporters continued to march as a unit back to Victoria Park in high spirits as they shouted: “Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like.”

“OPSEU has started this unnecessary strike that is disrupting hundreds of thousands of students. The Colleges, through the College Employer Council, have always been ready to return to the bargaining table to discuss a resolution to the strike based on the College’s final offer,” Don Sinclair, chief executive officer for the Council said in a phone interview. “[The] OPSEU has to come back to the table with practical proposals and move off their positions that are unaffordable and harmful to the quality of college programs.”

Both representatives from the OPSEU and Council said that they would like the strike to end so that faculty and students can both return to classrooms.

Fanshawe faculty and supporters stand in front of Deb Matthews' London office, while delivering a letter asking the minister to help get both strike parties back to the bargaining table. CREDIT: JORDAN CROW