29 | durhamregion.com This Week | Thursday, March 24, 2022 TORONTO STARWEEKEND HOME DELIVERY Now $3.99* per week for 52 weeks GET A $25 SHOPPERS DRUGMART® E-GIFT CARD** W IT H SU B SC R IP TI O N SUBSCRIBE ONLINE: thestar.com/deal OR CALL: 416-367-4500 and quote code CTSDGIFT 52%OFF SPRING BONUSGIFT KAIT, 25 YEARS OLD FORMER SICKKIDS PATIENT BECAUSE SOMEONE GAVE MONTHLY, SICKKIDS SAVED KAIT'S LIFE. Kait was born with a rare and complex syndrome. There's no cure for what she has, but monthly donors helped SickKids evolve and adapt for her changing needs. Today, she is thriving. Join us and help change the lives of patients like Kait. BECOME A MONTHLY DONOR. VISIT STARFORSICKKIDS.CA OR CALL 416-813-1216 TO DONATE Torstar readers will have their donations matched every month for a year. SCAN TO DONATE A last-minute agreement has averted a strike that would have affected college students in Durham Region and across the province. The agreement, which will see faculty members represented by Ontario Public Service Employees Union enter into binding arbitration with the College Employer Council, means a strike that had been scheduled to begin at midnight Friday, March 18, will not go ahead, according to a social media post from Durham College, which is based in Oshawa. "The CEC and OPSEU have reached an agreement and the strike that was scheduled to commence at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, March 18, 2022 is called off. This includes all work-to-rule strike activities," the college's Twitter account an- nounced. "All classes and campus operations will proceed as scheduled." A strike would have seen some 16,000 faculty at more than 20 public colleges across the province going on strike at a critical time for students nearing the end of the academic year. Key issues for faculty included workload, preparation time and contracting out of some duties. Durham College professor Katrina Jennifer Bedford expressed relief that students won't have their studies derailed by a strike in another social media post. "To all of the Ontario college students: You did not deserve the extra stress this ordeal has caused. As faculty, I am sorry for that," she wrote. "I'm joyful that the strike has been averted and we can all get on with the show." The agreement affecting Durham College comes after a strike in February by faculty at Ontario Tech, which shares a campus in Oshawa with the college. Classes at Ontario Tech resumed Feb. 28 after a new collective agreement was reached. STRIKE AT DURHAM COLLEGE AVERTED BY LAST-MINUTE DEAL EDUCATION SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT DURHAMREGION.COM