Exercise patience around college picket lines

If you’re approaching Northern College or College Boreal, officials are asking you to exercise patience with faculty picketing on the property.

Northern College Acting President Dr. Audrey Penner advises students to walk through the line when safe. But if you have to drive, to approach the line “slowly and cautiously.”

“We’re suggesting to anyone leaving Northern College, they do a right hand turn out of any of our public exits and a right hand turn into any of our public entrances,” she said.

“Safety is our number one priority, and I think if we adhere to that, we’ll do just fine.”

As for College Boreal’s strike action, the picket line is at the Theriault Boulevard entrance.

Boreal President Daniel Giroux echoes the sentiments of Penner in terms of safety, adding that students leave a little ahead of time if they’re on a schedule.

The local campus is in a unique situation, sharing their building with the Universite de Hearst and property entrance with Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault.

“I’ve asked my students to be respectful towards the striking population,” Campus Coordinator for the Universite de Hearst Louise Taillefer says, adding anyone not wanting to cross the picket line can use an alternate entrance to the property via Vimy Avenue.

“I don’t think it’s a question of not letting people through, just being more patient and taking more time to access our site,” Giroux adds.

Boreal has set up a hotline for students at 705-586-0346 from Monday-Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm.

Currently, there are no talks scheduled between OPSEU and the College Employer Council (CEC).

OPSEU says it’s up to the CEC to re-start talks. OPSEU bargaining team chair JP Hornick says the union remains ready to get back to negotiations.

We have reached out for comment from Ecole Secondaire Catholique Theriault to see what their protocol is in relation to the strike action.