College faculty appeal to MPPs

College faculty appeal to MPPs

An Open Letter to Lawmakers of Ontario

I am writing today to ask you to encourage the College Employer Council to remain at the bargaining table. Professors, Instructors, Librarians and Counsellors have now been on strike for almost three weeks.

In Ontario, it is important to have a high quality post-secondary education system that develops the next generation of citizens and employees. Our college system is an integral part of this. We need more stability in faculty and less precarious employment. We need to ensure that faculty is adequately paid for the work they do which goes well beyond class time: preparation, marking and curriculum development. Librarian and Counsellor workloads need to be monitored as well to ensure they can adequately serve students.

Education Crisis: Faculty Rally at Queen’s Park November 2, 2017 Photos: Anagaile Soriano

These issues are important in the quality of education that students receive at the post-secondary level. We are prepping our children, friends, and peers for their potential careers and want them to graduate with permanent, full-time jobs. College Professors, Instructors, Librarians and Counsellors need this too.

With this in mind, please encourage the College Employer Council to remain at the bargaining table. Thank you for your commitment to equal pay for equal work and ensuring our college system is set up to successfully serve Ontario for the next fifty years.

Faculty remain committed to negotiating academic freedom, equal pay for contract faculty and establishing an equitable ratio of full-time to contract positions. The education crisis impacts on the quality of education received, and thus impacts the quality of health care, economy, and livelihood for current and future generations of individuals and families living in Ontario, and across Canada.

We urge you to support faculty and students!

Siincerely,

Anagaile Soriano,
MN-NP, OPSEU Local 556