Management gambling with college students' education

26 March 2006

The Student Association of George Brown College (SA) decries the Ontario Colleges' bargaining team's demands for Final Offer Selection in the current college faculty labour dispute.

If Ontario college management does not immediately accept the Ontario Public Service Employees Union's (OPSEU) offer for "Voluntary Binding Arbitration" to resolve the current faculty strike, it will be clear to students that college management does not hold the best interests of students in mind. Says SA President, Steph Pickett, "It's clear that, at this point, it's the government and the college bargaining team that are unnecessarily keeping students out of their classrooms and robbing them of their education."

"If college management continues to suggest that arbitration move forward on the basis of a 'final offer selection' then the importance of fair negotiations in labour disputes - especially in the field of education - will be lost," said Nathan Sheils, an elected Vice President for the SA and also a graduating Architectural Technology student. Sheils continued: "What kind of message is the college system sending out to the public and to students in particular? Colleges are supposed to prepare their students to work productively in the job sectors they choose: Working productively with colleagues requires real communication and compromise. What horrible example are college managers showing students if they are not willing to submit to a standard, arbitrated solution by an objective third party?"

More important, what kind of message are college managers sending to those students who will be moving into a unionized workforce? "From auto workers to early childhood educators, from nurses to pipe fitters, graduating college students are heading into areas of employment that have a long and important history within the labour movement. Management has shown complete disregard for the collective bargaining process that workers have fought tooth and nail for," said Dan Roffey, elected Vice President Academic for the Student Association and also a graduating ECE student.

The SA stands behind all college students whether they will be heading into unionized or non-unionized work environments. But it is essential to understand the merit of fair arbitration in the bargaining process and recognize the rights of unionized workers. "It is ironic that the very people managing our education system are offering Final Offer Selection - a ruthless process that generates a win/lose decision. They should readily accept the OPSEU process offered, which relies on objective arbitration to generate a fair and compromised solution between the two parties", concluded Sheils.

Added Roffey, "Conflicts are not resolved by digging your heels in the dirt and refusing to budge on anything. This goes to show that college management is willing to allow the strike to continue at the expense of both students and faculty. Education for students is not something that should be taken lightly. College management should stop gambling with our futures and get us back into our classrooms."

For further information: please contact the Student Association of George Brown College: Dan Roffey, Vice President Academic, (647) 222-7633 (cell); Nathan Sheils, Vice President Finance, (416) 578-6283 (cell); Angelina Vaz, Executive Director, (416) 566-2856 (cell)

newswire

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