“We believe in what we’re trying to fight for”: OPSEU strike enters fourth week 

Since September 11, around 650 full-time college support staff at Fanshawe College have been on strike. Workers on the picket line share concerns about supporting their families as the financial hardships of the strike become increasingly straining.

“For some of them it’s a real financial hardship. A strike means you don’t perform work and you don’t get paid,” says Adam Rayfield, president of OPSEU (Ontario Public Service Employees Union) Local 109 representing full-time college support staff at Fanshawe College. “But what it’s really done is strengthen their bonds. The silver lining I see from this is that folks are connecting with folks they haven’t connected with over the years. They’re forming new bonds. It’s strengthened our groups as a collective unit. I think real good will come out of this.”

The province-wide strike, encompassing over 10,000 full-time college support staff across 24 colleges, is now entering its fourth week. College support staff — which include staff in IT services, the registrar’s office, and co-op placement coordinators, among others — are demanding leave for tending to family responsibilities, self-care, and domestic violence; access to dental care, hearing aids, prescription drugs, and gender-affirming care; and that their services not be replaced by AI or for-profit providers. 

The striking workers are also demanding an increase in provincial funding for colleges, along with a temporary pause on campus closures and layoffs. Fanshawe College is planning to lay off 400 workers. The College Employer Council — the bargaining agent for Ontario’s colleges — has refused to meet worker demands. 

College and university communities have attributed the layoffs — some of the largest in Ontario’s history — to the Canadian government’s January 2024 decision  to decrease international student permit applications by 35% for two years, bringing the number of international students from over a million in 2023 down to 364,000 in 2024. The sudden absence of international students has left Ontario colleges in severe financial deficit and forced campus closures, with international students paying an average of $14,306 in annual tuition fees as opposed to $3,000 for domestic students. A 2025 report by OPSEU adds that Premier Doug Ford has poured $2.5 billion worth of taxpayer money since 2020 into a “Skills Development Fund” for private enterprises rather than committing it to the province’s public colleges. 

“We believe in what we’re trying to fight for,” says academic services consultant Josh Westgate on the Fanshawe College picket line on September 27. “We’re seeing mass cuts across the province, funding hasn’t been where it could be, Ontario is the most underfunded province with all the other provinces in comparison. Fighting for job security and our jobs for the future are really important to us.”

With around 650 college support workers at the Fanshawe College picket line, the strike is full of drums, upbeat cheers, whistling, and cars honking past in solidarity. 

Amidst the momentum, staff share how the strike has impacted their personal lives. 

Amelia Ertel, a co-op consultant, shares that her wedding is coming up. With the strike limiting her income, her fiancé must work overtime to ensure they can handle the expenses. The couple also made the unfortunate decision to pause certain purchases for their wedding to get by. 

Tam Visser, student recruitment specialist and second vice president of OPSEU Local 109, is the only breadwinner for her two kids and dog as a single mother. Since the strike, her income has been split. 

“Trying to feed four mouths basically on one income that now has been cut in half has really been a struggle,” said Visser.

Westgate, a father, has been dipping into his emergency savings account to keep up with expenses. The strike has compelled these savings to be poured towards sustaining his family while his income becomes increasingly strained. 

“I’ve got a little girl at home, I’ve got a partner,” says Westgate. “Throughout my life, it’s (been) the responsibility of saving and making sure you’ve got a little bit of money in case any emergencies happen. I wasn’t planning to save for a strike, but… They’ll go towards this.”

Rayfield attests that the weeks on strike have been “an emotional rollercoaster.”

“We’ve gathered everyone here, all of our members and our supporters, to boost spirits because a strike can be a real hardship. Seeing that we’re all in it together is what we’ve done today – and it appears to have had that effect.”

Fall convocations at Fanshawe College scheduled for November, largely organized by support staff, have been postponed to June 2026 due to the Employer’s unwillingness to meet the strike demands.Students have also lost academic advisors, counsellors, and familiar registrar staff, creating a “climate of disarray.” 

“We really care for our students and we know that our students are starting to suffer inside the colleges by not having the services that we offer. We’re really starting to feel for our students. We just want to get back inside and start supporting our students again,” says Visser. 

Westgate echoes this, yearning to work one-on-one with apprenticeship students again.

“We’d all rather be working. All of us do value our jobs, we love interacting with students and working within our portfolios and having that job fulfillment. So, that being taken away from us for the past few weeks, we’re starting to feel that.”

Ertel misses working with students, employers, and community partners. She calls the strike a bit stressful, alluding to financial strains and the physical demands of marching for long hours in the sun along the picket line. But the OPSEU Local 109 community has been ripe with support, prioritizing everyone’s well-being.

“I’m very grateful for our Local 109 community, everyone’s been really supportive and I’ve seen people support each other. Everyone has good days and bad days. Some days are physically demanding, a lot more walking than we’re used to. Some days I’m tired. Rest when you have to.”

On October 3, OPSEU announced that part-time college support staff will hold a strike vote from October 14 to October 17 to potentially join full-time staff, stating that they have not received an employer response to their demands in ten months.

With files from Emmanuel Akanbi.