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Strike looming at Sheridan By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 9 · Wednesday, January 20, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Negotiations started Tuesday in anticipation of preventing a strike by Ontario's college teachers. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) met with the College Compensation and Appointments Council to resume talks that broke off Dec. 15, after five months of negotiations. The latest round of negotiations is more important than ever, as the majority of more than 9,000 members of OPSEU voted last Wednesday in favour of going on strike if a happy medium cannot be reached. The union has said the earliest a strike could be called is midFebruary. There are approximately 250 full-time and 160 part-time instructors with OPSEU Local 244 at Sheridan College's Trafalgar campus. The group of instructors gave a strong yes showing at last week's strike vote, according to Jack Urowitz, second vice-president and communications officer of OPSEU Local 244. "Sheridan College was number two in the list of colleges in terms of voting in favour of the strike mandate," said Urowitz, who is also a teacher at Sheridan College in Oakville. Salary is one major issue in talks. The College Compensation and Appointments Council's latest offer is a 7.5 per cent pay increase over four years. The union is looking for the same increase over three years. "York University professors had their negotiations in September and they got three per cent (a year for three years)," Urowitz said. However, working conditions and control over decision-making is more important than money, according to Urowitz. He said the council has too much power under the current legislation. "We, as the faculty, would like to decide how to best prepare for and evaluate curriculum," Urowitz said. "Management wants to be able to tell us to use multiplechoice tests everywhere, so it takes less time for us to mark, so we can teach more hours." As negotiations go on, students at colleges across the province anxiously wait. Many are concerned about what impact a strike will have on their semester. Some are worried it could mean an extended semester, while others are anxious about losing the term completely. Crystal Bennett, president of the Sheridan College Student Union at the Trafalgar campus, is in the homestretch of her last year in the administration marketing program. She said that many of the college's students, including her, are very concerned about a possible strike. "Some of the main things (students are worried about) is if they are going to graduate, if they are going to have to move their semester to the summer, how they are going to make up their credits," she said. Bennett said that while she understands the union has the right to strike, she, along with the roughly 8,000 full-time and parttime students at the Trafalgar campus, is hoping negotiations will be successful. The student union recently submitted a petition signed by several thousand students to administration at Sheridan College asking that a strike be avoided. "As students, what we are hoping for is a settlement to be reached," Bennett said. Urowitz said he is sympathetic towards students and understands their concerns. "We are absolutely on side with the students," he said. "We're only doing this for the students. It is the quality of education that we're fighting for, that's for students, not for us. It would be easy to let all the courses run by multiple choice tests and have an outside marker do it. The hardest part of teaching is marking, but it is the most important part for students who actually read over the teachers' comments." The last college teachers' strike in Ontario was in 2006. It lasted three OPEN FOR NOW: Oakville's Sheridan campus could be hit by a provinceweeks. wide strike by college teachers. bankruptcy liquidation at Otello's Banquet & Conference Centre, 2273 Royal Windsor, Oakville OTELLO'S BANQUET Mon. Jan., 11am-8pm Tues. Jan., 26th 11am-5pm L 2 DAYS ON5Y 2 th Largest selection in North America Hundreds of styles, colours and sizes for all tastes and budgets. 100% top quality hand knotted rugs. o of 0%2ndfne 8 get the nd a FREE prices lower than bankruptcy Milton man took fatal shortcut A 42-year-old Milton resident was struck and killed by a westbound GO train near Kerr Street Friday morning. The name of the victim was withheld at the request of the family. Halton police say the collision occurred in the Kerr Street and Speers Road area, just west of the Oakville GO station, at 1:30 a.m. Based on their investigation, police believe the man was walking in the area and used the train track as a shortcut. Halton police sergeant Brian Carr said the man was pronounced dead at the scene. Police warn the public to never walk on railway tracks under any circumstances. None of the passengers on the train were injured. Buses were used to complete their journeys.