January 06, 2010
By Brent Davis, Record staff

With only a week left before a strike vote that could send about 9,000 college teachers onto picket lines at 24 campuses across Ontario, both sides admit they’re not optimistic about a return to the bargaining table.

“The short answer is there’s really not much to report on” since negotiations broke off in mid-December, said Greg Hamara, spokesperson for the Ontario Public Service Employees’ Union.

“We’re quite a ways apart on the overall package,” said Don Sinclair, executive director for the council representing the colleges. “Really, it’s now in the hands of our faculty to decide if there’s going to be a strike.”

Caught in the middle are students like Jason Paul, in the first year of a public relations program at Conestoga College.

“A lot of students are really stressed out about what’s going to happen,” Paul said. “Since I’m a first-year, I’m not quite sure what to expect.”