This message is a follow up on recent communications from OPSEU/SEFPO President JP Hornick (see below) and last night’s well-attended faculty Town Hall regarding the possible Support Staff strike that could begin as early as Thursday, September 11th. As we all know, the future of our colleges has never been more at risk. This moment calls for all of us to stand together and demand meaningful change.
Last week, we received an email which outlined the province’s disastrous plan to privatize our education system. I am also linking a copy of the presentation shared at last night’s Town Hall which further explains this. It will also be released publicly in the media as early as today.
One thing is clear: if we do nothing, the situation will only get worse. Our support staff colleagues are fighting not only for a fair contract but also for a stronger, more sustainable college system—and we have an opportunity to stand with them.
Below is also a message from JP Hornick regarding members who choose to respect the OPSEU constitution and refuse to cross picket lines. Your support can take many forms, but I urge you to seriously consider how you can best contribute in this critical moment.
Here are some immediate ways to show your support:
– Do Not Perform Support Staff Work
– Direct any issues or work to managers instead. Examples include;
- Tech support for online teaching/counselling
- Placement/clinical organization and supervision
- Library assistance in any way
- Setting up labs and lab facilitation
- Booking rooms (for computer tests or testing in general and any other reason)
- Printing that should go to the print shop (eg worksheets or tests)
- Setting up the course shell on LMS/Brightspace Assistance
- TLC requests/support
- Computer and tech support of any kind
- Booking appointments for counselling and advising
- Student success support of any kind
- Accommodation support – including CAL Tests
- Test Invigilation and clerical duties for testing
- Textbook sales
- Course material conversion for accessibility (large print editions, braille conversion, closed captioning of videos, etc)
- Health and Safety Work performed by support staff
- Flight/Aviation work done by technologists
- All facilities and maintenance work
– DO NOT PERFORM WORK NOT ON A SWF (FT Faculty) OR COMPENSATED (Counsellors or Librarians and Contract Faculty)
- If the College moves to direct us to put our courses online, the time required for conversion must be on SWF or compensated through OT.
- If the College moves to direct counsellors to provide online counselling, this additional work (to convert and pivot) must be compensated beyond your 35 hour work week.
– Join the Practice Picket for Local 416
- On Wednesday, September 10th, from 12:00–1:00 p.m. at the Woodroffe Avenue entrance to the Ottawa campus. A strong turnout from both support staff and faculty will send a powerful message to the College and the College Employer Council that we are ready to fight for a better college system (showing power can be the quickest way to avoid a strike).
– Join the Picket Line
- If you do not have scheduled classes on Thursday or Friday, exercise your right to stay off campus (professors are not obligated to be on campus if they don’t have scheduled classes) and instead join support staff on the picket line. If you do have classes on Thursday or Friday and choose not to cross a picket line, please refer to JP Hornick’s message below.
– Support the Picket Line
- Participate on your lunch, bring snacks/refreshments, be patient and respectful at the picket line, explain to students what is going on and that picketing workers are fighting for the future of post-secondary education. Encourage students to show support and join a picket line.
– Connect with Us
- If you would like to discuss other ways to participate, please reach out to your local officers. We will also be around campus in the coming days and at the Practice Picket on Wednesday to connect with anyone looking to get involved. Send an email to one of us listed below, and we will follow up with you in person or by phone. Please do not use your Algonquin College email.
Tracy Henderson – president@opseulocal415.org
Judy Puritt – firstvp@opseulocal415.org
Martin Lee – secondvp@opseulocal415.org
Tara Ettinger – leadsteward@opseulocal415.org
Jordan Berard – secretary@opseulocal415.org
Patrick Kostiw – treasurer@opseulocal415.org
It is critical that we demonstrate strong support on Thursday and Friday. For now, our focus is on these two days—but our collective actions can make a lasting impact.
I have heard from many people “Support staff crossed our picket line in 2017”, you are correct and we have previously crossed their picket line as well. But friends, “then” is not “now” and we have never been faced with the consequences of not taking action like we face today. These are different times, and they demand a different approach.
I will also remind everyone to prioritize your own mental health and well-being during these very difficult times. The college keeps trying to pressure us to prioritize students, but when faculty are being attacked and disrespected the way we are, we must take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. Sick time is there for a reason. It was a long fought win by this Union.
The emails and letters they are sending to get us to stand down are bullying strategies to invoke fear. Just like last week when they were threatening to call security as we were on campus handing out “Save our Colleges” buttons and having organizing conversations about the state of the Ontario College system. This means we have them on our playing field – they are afraid – and that should bolster our confidence and resolve.
We will be responding to the college’s recently released email at a later time. They won’t allow us to reply at all. They are silencing you while threatening. I urge you to reread the email carefully. They are trying to divide us and are attempting to control this strike action. The right to strike is a fundamental right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms – they do not get to control this.
In solidarity,
Tracy Henderson, President Local 415
OPSEU/SEFPO supports all members who refuse to cross picket lines.
As you are likely already aware, college full-time support staff are approaching a watershed moment in their negotiations towards a new collective agreement – and may be on strike as of 12:01 a.m. on September 11th, 2025, should no deal be reached by the deadline.
The task before us, as union members across every Ontario college campus, is to decide how we are going to meet that moment.
For years, we have watched our public college system piloted into the present disaster: systematically defunded and overtaken by greed, while massive provincial handouts go to private training providers.
Thousands upon thousands of our colleagues have been let go – and thousands more fear for their jobs.
It doesn’t have to be like this. We have the tools to fight back – and win.
Our unity is our greatest strength, and the responsibility we carry to defend our members, our livelihoods, and our futures has never been more critical. We are safest if we stand together.
Article 31.1 of OPSEU/SEFPO’s member-formed Constitution makes explicit that “except where required by law or under an Emergency/Essential Services Agreement, a Union member shall not violate the picket lines and shall not perform the bargaining unit work of other Union members who are on strike or locked out.”
As your elected president, I am here to tell you: any member who honours this constitutional provision and refuses to cross our union siblings’ picket lines will be backed with the full support of OPSEU/SEFPO.
We are prepared to take every action necessary to ensure that as college workers, we can all stand together. This includes mobilizing all available resources to fight for members who may be threatened with or face reprisal for refusing to cross a picket line.
There is no going forward without a fight. For ordinary people, power concedes nothing without a fight – it never has, and it never will. And I give you my word that I will be in the heart of this fight with you.
Imagine what a college system you can be proud of, a public system worth working in, would look like in the future. Is that not worth fighting for?
In solidarity,
JP Hornick
President, OPSEU/SEFPO