Saturday November 18, 2017
Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 18, 2017
Will a lawsuit help Ontario students get their money back after college strike?
Frustrated and financially burdened students affected by the Ontario colleges strike are turning to the courts to try to get some cash back.
A class action was commenced on Tuesday that seeks to recover tuition money on behalf of the thousands of students at 24 colleges who have been out of class since mid-October.
Going down the lawsuit road could be a long and ultimately unsuccessful journey, but there could still be some benefits to it in the short term, say class action experts.
Pressure on the Ontario government to step in and force an end to the strike, now in its fifth week, ramped up Thursday when the latest contract offer from the College Employer Council was rejected by striking faculty, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.
Premier Kathleen Wynne met with representatives from both sides on Thursday afternoon, and several hours later her government announced it would introduce legislation to force them into binding arbitration and end the strike. The premier said she wants to see students back in class by Monday morning.
This will be the longest college strike in Ontario’s history, and students have been demanding tuition refunds since it began. A petition they started says full-time students are owed $30 per day of the strike based on the average tuition cost per semester. (Source: CBC)