For strike updates visit Humber’s FAQ page and IGNITE’s FAQ page.

On October 16th all Ontario colleges went on strike. Regardless of what your position may be on the strike, most of us can agree that students are impacted by this in some capacity, whether it be positive or negative.

Before the strike, we asked students at Humber and Guelph-Humber how they felt about the situation. Here’s what students had to say:

Kellie – Media Studies, Guelph-Humber

“If they go on strike for the whole semester and I don’t get my tuition back I’ll be angry.  All of our classes will be cancelled which means we’ll have to wait for next year to retake our courses which would be ridiculous. We have been getting emails from the school about it but I feel like they’ve been putting it out last minute. Nobody knows what’s going on and I’m just angry about it all.”

Gabby – Film and Television, North Campus

“I think it’s justified if they go on strike. I would be totally fine with it. From what I’m hearing it’s not really about money but about them having more control about what they can teach, so I think that’s completely fine. Educators don’t get paid a lot and our instructors have families to take care of. Considering how much effort they put into their work I think its completely fine for them to do this, so I say go on strike. I feel like Humber has done a good job communicating about it all. All of my professors have brought it up and spent time talking about it with the class. They’re worried about how it’s going to be transitioning into next semester if this strike happens. It’s sweet how concerned they’ve been. I can understand why students are upset though. They’re scared about the uncertainty.”

Hanseon Kim– Paralegal, North Campus

“On whether the strike is good or bad I think it depends on how long it will be. If it’s a week then it’s good but if it’s longer than that then it will definitely affect us since it’s interfering with our courses. Overall it’s not a good thing because they’re trying to put us in it and have it impact us so that they can get what they want.”

Maria– Paralegal Education, North Campus

“I think it’s really unfair towards students because it’s cutting into our education. Since my program is only two years we already have to cram in a lot, so cutting out a week is bad enough but if they go on for a month then we’re screwed. But at the same time I get that they want better pay and stuff like that. I just wish this would have happened in the summer. If there’s class time lost it would be great if they compensated us for that but I know that that’s just not gonna happen.”

Malorie– Media Studies, Guelph-Humber

“I feel like the strike is very unfair to students. Not only is it setting us back in our studies, but for students like myself who live outside of the GTA we have to continue paying rent for off campus housing not knowing when our studies will continue. This just adds to the debt we are facing.”

Connor– Kinesiology, Guelph-Humber

“I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Our profs have families and are just trying to get what they deserve. There’s a lot of uncertainty for them so I get it. I do get why students are upset though. I won’t be impacted by this much since I live at home and don’t have a lot of expenses so it will be more like a break for me. But I do get that it would’t be the same situation for other students. Either way I hope it won’t go on too long.”

Thusiha– Nursing, North Campus

“What’s the point of having the strike when you could just reach an agreement and end it? I want to know what’s gonna happen to our tuition fees. If it’s going on for a month imagine how much in tuition we’re paying for that one month. Are we supposed to keep up with our work? I don’ t want to be in school during the summer when I could be working and paying off my OSAP loans. I get what they’re asking for, like we’re in school so that we can get a full-time job and yet our professors are working part-time on a contract basis so what sense does that make?”

For updates on the strike, check out Humber’s bargaining update page.

Make sure you check out IGNITE’s Facebook and Twitter accounts for campus updates.