Ontario teachers forced back to classrooms after longest college strike in its history

Around 12,000 striking college teachers and instructors have been forced back to the classrooms after five weeks by a new law.

The back-to-work legislation was passed by 39-18 votes in the Ontario Provincial Assembly late on Sunday to make the teachers end the longest college strike in Ontario's history.

The ruling Liberal party got support from the Progressive Conservative party in passing the law.

The professors, instructors, counsellors and librarians who had been on strike since Oct 16 in 24 colleges will now have to report to the respective institutions by Monday and return to classrooms on Tuesday.

Colleges will have to extend their semesters so that some 500,000 do not lose their terms.

But, the student groups said the management was trying to condense five missed weeks into roughly two extra ones, and that would be very stressful, according to CBC News.

The provincial government has ordered the colleges to create a fund using savings from the strike to help students who may be experiencing financial hardship because of the labour dispute.

Earlier, the Liberal government tried to introduce and pass the back-to-work legislation on Thursday night after talks stalled again, but the NDP said due diligence was needed.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne had met both the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which represents the teachers, and the regulating body College Employer Council (CEC) on Thursday after union members overwhelmingly voted against contract offers.

The teachers' union has been demanding 50 percent full-time positions and better wages.

But, the College Employer Council said the union’s demands would cost $250 million extra and would lead to the loss of thousands of contract positions.

It also argued that full-time professors cover half of all teaching hours and that its final offer to the union gives preference to full-time hiring.

The Council also said, "Depending on how it was calculated, full-time faculty represent about one-third of all teachers strictly by headcount, and by teaching hours they represent about 50 percent."