Ontario college teachers set to go on strike

Ontario's college teachers are set to go on strike in January, and I can already hear it... students and their parents complaining (most likely to the workers who aren't the problem, rather than to management) that they're going to miss a semester, or have their semester extended into the summer vacation season if a strike goes on for too long.  Letters to the editor will be written, Facebook groups will be created, all focused on the students' needs with no regard (or, likely, any knowledge) of what the workers are fighting for.

What students and parents who call for quick ends to labour disputes fail to understand is that they're sabotaging their own futures and those of their children.

How often is the lesson taught in colleges and universities that short-term thinking is the cause of so many seemingly intractable problems?

Yet students engage in this same short-term thinking when they're only concerned about finishing their semester on time and fail to look at the big picture.

If you don't support striking workers, you doom yourselves to a future where all that will be available to you is part-time work without benefits.  You'll likely be low-paid, you'll have uncertain hours, and your working conditions will be poor.  You'll be working two to three jobs to make ends meet.

Workers in all industries are fighting these same fights.  Declines in working conditions spread from employer to employer far faster than gains made by workers.  So, students need to learn this lesson now: United we bargain, divided we beg.

Your teachers' fight is your fight.  They're protecting your future, so have the decency to support them.

For more details, click here, and/or visit the OPSEU site.