Humber students show up in support of staff workers

The faculty union at Humber Polytechnic invited students to walk out in support of picketers in the second week of the strike.

About a dozen students were present at the picket lines, chanting and showing their support for the staff workers despite the pouring rain.

Students and picketers battled the bad weather, but it wasn’t an impediment to them to support, as “Solidarity” chants were heard.

This comes after the College Employer Council (CEC) said in a media release that they have agreed to meet with the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) in mediation.

OPSEU asked the government for an official who is able to assist with negotiations. The two parties are set to meet on Friday, Sept. 26.

Third-year game programming Indonesian international student Adriel Susanta said he has been affected not only by class schedules, but also by connections, especially as an international student.

“Cancelling classes or moving stuff online, it's antithetical to the reason why I'm here in the first place,” he said. “It's to learn, it's to connect with people.”

 He said the only way he knew about the student walkout was through a friend who’s also a part-time college employee.

 “I wouldn't know anything about this if it wasn't for him,” Susanta said.

He said people should have more empathy for the support staff workers.

 “These are just people, people who are trying to do their best, trying to help students during their college years,” he said.

 Some students are also part-time workers at school, meaning they are affected twice in both classes and work.

 The friend in question, who told Susanta about the walkout, was Jesse James Gaonach, a third-year game programming student.

“Quite frankly, I want to see my people treated well. That's kind of the bottom line,” said Gaonach, who is also a grounds crew worker at Humber.

“I feel I should also specify I'm working on the grounds team, so I've been pretty close with the support staff. I saw kind of what led up to the strike happening,” Gaonach said. “They were not happy about it. It should be stated that none of these folks actually want to be out here,” he said.

The standoff between the CEC and Humber Polytechnic leaves students like Gaonach thinking one thing.

“Maybe we stop giving the president increases in pay. Because, quite frankly, I'm not even sure what she's doing at this point,” Gaonach said.

He said he feels cynical about the mediation but thinks this may be the time to finally get somewhere and reach some common ground.

'I'd like to think that there's enough reason left in them to at least hear the other side out,” he said.

“Hopefully, they're able to at least find common ground, get the staff working, get the staff happy, and actually keep this place running.”

University of Guelph-Humber information officer Angelisa Hatfield said she was happy to see students picketing with them and taking initiative.

“They've been super passionate,” she said. “Them taking the megaphone and doing their thing has been awesome.”

 At the same time, Hatfield emphasized student participation since many picketers were rallying downtown.

“We just kept a few here to keep the line strong, but it was a huge help to have students come out and just be motivated by them too,” Hatfield said.

Maya Harry, another game programming student who attended the walkout, pointed to possible consequences if an agreement is not reached.

“If this goes well, everybody wins. If this doesn't go well, this could go to the part-time staff having to go on strike," she said.

Part-time support staff, who have been without a contract for 19 months, will be voting on whether to give their bargaining team a strike mandate between Oct. 12 and 17.

“If there's no full-time and there's no part-time, there's no staff, there's no campus,” Harry said.

OPSEU is also negotiating a first contract for part-time faculty and sessional teachers with the CEC.