Queen's Park rally supporting striking college faculty draws big crowds (PHOTOS)

Despite the rain, thousands were at Queen’s Park in Toronto on Thursday afternoon for a rally supporting college faculty.

College faculty are now in their third week of their strike, and on Wednesday, the province announced that the Ministry of Labour mediator has called Ontario’s colleges and workers to return to the bargaining table.

This is the current state of Queens Park #toronto. Faculty are here for #students. #standwithfaculty #wepaytolearn #endthestrike pic.twitter.com/AuOoHcZbyW

— Danielle Allard (@daniellejallard) November 2, 2017

According to a statement issued by the province, the mediator called the parties in the ongoing labour dispute to meet on Thursday, November 2 to resume talks.

Meanwhile, the rally organized by OPSEU wanted to send a message to the province.

“It’s time to get students back in their classrooms and get faculty back to work,” stated the OPSEU. “College faculty call on the College Employer Council to come back to the bargaining table ready to negotiate a fair contract that puts quality education first.”

Thursday’s rally was attended by OPSEU President Warren (Smokey) Thomas, Ontario NDP leader, Andrea Horwath, and president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, Chris Buckley.

See also

• Striking Ontario colleges to return to the bargaining table tomorrow
• 24 Ontario colleges officially go on strike, 220,000 students affected
• Opinion: The Ontario college strike is a lesson not worth learning

Kathleen Wynne’s post-secondary funding squeeze fails students and faculty  — proud to #StandWithFaculty for a fair deal that gets our students back in the classroom. pic.twitter.com/nbhb0IxVDt

— Andrea Horwath (@AndreaHorwath) November 2, 2017

#Rally4Faculty at Queens Park brought thousands of supporters from across the province #StandWithFaculty #onpoli #onpse pic.twitter.com/zk9392fy2W

— OPSEU (@OPSEU) November 2, 2017

College faculty, counsellors and librarians calling for fairness on cllg campuses. #standwithfaculty #equalpayequalwork @opseulocal110 pic.twitter.com/UXvAkS6tog

— Jared Dalton (@JareTim) November 2, 2017

Huge rally to #StandWithFaculty at Queen’s Park! Part of a groundswell of voices calling for #decentwork in all sectors. #SDOH #onpoli pic.twitter.com/2vFVJkxPkR

— Decent Work & Health (@DecentWorkHlth) November 2, 2017