Conestoga College faculty cheer news of 'no' vote

Striking faculty picketing outside the Dooncampus of Conestoga College in Kitchener cheered upon hearing the news that members overwhelmingly voted to reject the latest offer from the College Employer Council.

Faculty at Ontario's 24 collegesvoted 86 per cent against the latest offer, with a95 per cent participation rate.

"We are now sending the message that we want to get this done and be back in the classroom as soon as possible," MaureenMurphy-Fricker, chief steward of local 237, told CBCNews.

"We want students to know we never wanted to be here in the first place but it is a message that we are now moving close to better quality education."

Students vs. faculty

The vote angered students on campus, who held a rally of their own urging their teachers to get back to class.

"I just want my education," saidMorgan Dean, of Cambridge, who is enrolled in Conestoga College's pre-health science program.

"I have worked long and very hard and put a lot of hours into my high school grades to get into a really important course.One day I do want to be a doctor and this is the first step. And the first step is being taken away from me."

Dean worries what will become of the semester as fewer than five teaching weeks remain before Christmas break, with no end to the strike in sight.

"I think this is going to be either pushed offand when second semester is supposed to start it's going to actually be a re-do of the first semester, or it's going to be get our second semester done and then come back next September."

In a message to students on Nov. 13, Mike Dinning, vice president of student affairs for Conestoga College, said the final day to withdraw from a course will be extended.

Though the message didn't specify that new date, it said students will be given "sufficient time to make a decision."

Dinning went on to say though classes are set to resume Jan. 2, 2018, the winter semester doesn't begin until Jan. 15 and fees for that semester aren't due until after the strike is over.