Worst Strike in Ontario History

I never really considered the implications of a strike before. But now I can tell you with the utmost certainty, it sucks. Majorly.

It’s my first year in college, first adventure away from home alone. I thought there was nothing I couldn’t do. But then the threat of a strike loomed above like some gargantuan Godzilla ready to eat up my learning experience.

My teachers were confident it wouldn’t lead to that, and while I appreciate optimists I am not one. I was ready to accept that my learning would be put on hold. And as the day came closer, the professors smiled and said that they wouldn’t be gone for more than two weeks, “It’s never been longer than two weeks” they said. I felt like a puppy, left at home while they were on a trip.

How wrong they were.

SIX WEEKS LATER, we finally returned to classes. Of course, that meant our semester extended into Christmas break. Time I was much looking forward to. It would mean I was a quarter of the way through my program. My return would mean a new semester, which in turn meant I wouldn’t have to worry over the break about assignments and exams, and instead I could relax with my mother, watch Christmas movies, bake cookies, and drink eggnog.

Six weeks is now the historical peak of Ontario’s colleges on strike, and that isn’t something I agreed to put in history books for myself.

I kept hoping it was all some kind of joke. That it would be only two weeks, one of which happened to be my reading week.

I appreciate that I live in a country where unions can represent themselves in a way that allows them to fight for what is needed, for what they want. It’s something my mother taught me as a child.

It was surprising to me when people talked badly about teachers, calling them greedy among other things. I thought they were brave. Of course, I thought it was inconvenient and annoying. But I learned students in other towns and cities had hit teachers who were on the picket line. That was completely unjust.

I was fortunate enough to understand the different sides of the story. My school kept us up-to-date with bargaining updates as soon as things happened. Although there wasn’t much to say, aside from “rejected again. We’ll try again soon.”

Teachers were fighting for things that would not only make their job better, but also wanted it to be better for their students.

Students were angry – and I’ll admit that I was too – because the money that we had paid was just sitting there, not being used. People who had come from different countries had to drop out, and people couldn’t afford to do nothing for six weeks. I was close to getting a job and saying forget it. But my mom kept me on track. I’m training to do something I love, and I’m back doing it and I’m happy.

I still think the strike went on too long, and that the teachers should have been listened to much sooner than they were. I think the students were the last priority, even though they should have been the first.

It’s a bad time for education when the government doesn’t want to step in until it’s almost too late for the semester to be saved. Even with the shifts in semester, and the fact a lot of teachers dropped midterms and removed assignments (which made others worth more) we’ve still lost a week, and now there’s so much to cram in.

Essentially Godzilla reared his nuclear warhead, and students are left scrambling to keep up and rebuild what’s left. And because we value what we're doing, we'll keep going.