Hundreds of Fanshawe College support workers begin strike

About 650 support workers from Fanshawe College began picketing Thursday morning, part of a strike of 10,000 workers across the province.

All classes and building remain open, as do labs and other learning activities. However, people are being asked to expect delays getting onto campus. London transit buses are being re-routed so they don't cross picket lines.

"Quite frankly, support staff are the lowest paid employees in the college sector and we're bearing the brunt of layoffs," said Adam Rayfield, the president of OSPSEU Local 109, which represents the workers at Fanshawe College.

"Support staff are in every corner of the college. We're in every office. All the student services that are not academic are staffed by support staff, and all academic officers are staffed by support staff."

The strike comes as classes resume at the province's 24 publicly-funded colleges, which continue to cut staff and programs because of lack of funding. The federal government capped international study permits last year, ending a reliable source of revenue for colleges.

Fanshawe has said 400 people will be laid off and many programs have been cut as the college deals with budget pressures.

While the provincial government is not a direct party to negotiations between colleges and the College Employer Council, the onus to better fund the college system lands squarely on Premier Doug Ford's shoulders, union officials have said.

The union estimated that previous and upcoming system-wide cuts will result in 10,000 job losses, and more than 650 programs have already been cancelled, it said to CBC News in August.

The strike is not about wages or benefits, but about not degrading layoff language in the collective agreement, Rayfield said.

"We're in the middle of layoffs right now and it's a very difficult time," he said.

"We don't want to see concessions which were tabled around our layoff language. They want to reduce the entitlements that we enjoy, and we're looking to strengthen our contracting out language because we're fearful that that will be the next step in this procedure."

Student Maxx Wilcox showed up Thursday morning to support the striking workers because they say workers have supported them and their partner in the last three years.

"I'm a student with a permanent disability, and I can tell that there are fewer support staff already," they told CBC News. "They've laid so many people off. The support workers should be able to have the time and ability to keep track of all students and help them."

In the past, support workers have been very helpful, Wilcox added. "I had some really great experiences, especially with my accessibility counsellor. I want to be able to give back to them what they give to us."

The CEC has said the union's demands would expose colleges to more than $900 million in additional costs, although the union disputes this figure.

The CEC urged the union to agree to arbitration to avoid disruption to student learning.