Members of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA), which represents just over 1,500 professors, librarians and archivists, have been on legal strike action since 12:01 am. of Sunday. The two sides met on Monday in a last-ditch effort to hammer out a new collective agreement before the 11.59pm strike deadline set last week by the UWOFA board. While the union said it is optimistic a new deal can be reached, it is possible Monday’s bargaining session will continue into the 11th hour, as it did four years ago.

		Read more: Western University faculty will strike Tuesday if no deal is reached, union says 		
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			Western University faculty will strike Tuesday if no deal is reached, union says

Story continues below ad Amid the negotiations, students have been caught in the middle, with some worried about what to expect and how a strike could affect their studies, with exams scheduled to start in less than a month. “It’s a little stressful just for the time of year it is right now. I have two presentations, two exams and two essays due this week,” Kierra McDonald, a fourth-year Western European student, said Monday. “At the same time, if the strike happens, I don’t know what that means, how long it’s going to be, especially this end of the year … I’m preparing for it to happen just in case, so I have all my work ready, but it’s a little stressful.” Western University freshmen Krish Kodali and Kunalraj Talampally. Andrew Graham/980 CFPL Freshman Chris Kondali told Global News that some teachers are reassuring students that if a strike does happen, it probably won’t be a prolonged strike. Story continues below ad “However, I think there’s still the uncertainty of going to university for the first time in person, and obviously there are certain expectations that we have as students to get an equal education,” Kodali said. “Obviously the strike, if it happens, would stop it for a certain amount of time. So as a student, I think it’s mostly about our education being hindered.”

		Read more: Western University faculty union braces for possible strike next week

Kunalraj Talampally, who is also in first year, told Global News that when word got out about a possible strike, only two of his five classes had raised the issue, adding that several teachers have focused more on intermediate content within the busy academic calendar. “Everybody was kind of oblivious to it,” Talabali said. He adds that he hopes an agreement can be reached, noting that a strike could mean lost lecture time. “Some of these harder courses … you don’t get very many lecture hours. You lose lecture hours when the exam dates don’t change because they can’t, there’s too much content to cover,” he said. Current trend

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“This causes a lot of stress, especially for people in my calculus class. We just really, really hope there won’t be a strike.” Story continues below ad Ivey Business School sophomore Tiger McDonald. Andrew Graham/980 CFPL Fourth-year Ivey Business School student Tiger McDonald said he received emails from the school about what students should expect when it comes to their courses. “There’s the challenge of the quality of education you’re looking for when you get to university, and ultimately you want to get it right and you want to do your homework right and you want to learn as much as you can,” he said. “So far what I’ve been told is (that) the remaining papers would be — I don’t want to say skipped — but the remaining papers will not be graded.” He adds that his professors have been fully transparent about the ongoing situation and wants the university’s faculty to have a better standard of living. “They are optimistic that we can see them for the rest of the week. It will take until the end of the day today to know that decision,” he said. Story continues below ad “We all seem to be on the same side here, but we all want the best thing, which is for our faculty to be well compensated and us to have a good education.” Classes for Western’s three affiliated colleges, Brescia, Huron and Kings, will not be affected. I am on the Western University campus where students are preparing for a possible strike by UWOFA members. Here at UC Hill, UWOFA members gather support and share literature. If no deal can be reached by 11:59 a #LdnOnt strike will begin pic.twitter.com/KiAE0WdcNY — Andrew Graham (@andrewjwgraham) November 14, 2022 In the event of a strike, students will have to find another way to class if they normally take the bus to campus. The head of the local union representing London Transit drivers and engineers says buses will not cross any picket lines. “The company is graciously putting together a plan and respecting that we’re not violating them, and we’re basically going to walk off campus,” said Michael Gauthier, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 741. Story continues below ad Service changes will be posted on the London Transit website in the event of a strike and students will be notified by the university, he said. “We will support them all the way,” he said of UWOFA members. “We have that right to be a unionized environment and we will support our brothers and sisters no matter what union they are in.” “I’d like the students to understand that it’s nothing personal, we’re doing what we’re doing out of respect and we’re just asking them to be patient with us and we’ll be able to get them where they’re going, still. “

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Whatever agreement is ultimately reached, faculty members will be looking at three years of one percent annual salary increases as a result of the province’s Bill 124. Union officials argued that with current inflation, members would see an effective pay cut because of this. As a result, union officials said they are seeking improvements in other areas, including conditions and workloads, better job security for contract teachers and better access to health benefits for part-time teachers, among others. On Friday, UWOFA president Hiran Perinpanayagam told Global News that Western was pushing for a four-year deal but had offered nothing for a fourth year to make it attractive to members, offering only a 2.25 percent raise and a one-time fee for full-time members. Story continues below ad About 91 percent of UWOFA members voted to strike in September. The union has set up a strike headquarters at 612 Colborne St., and portable restrooms have been placed around campus in areas where walkouts are expected. The last strike by UWOFA members was in 2011 involving librarians and archivists. The strike lasted about two weeks before an agreement was reached, the union says. Western University has remained relatively tight-lipped about the potential strike, with a spokesman reiterating Monday that officials are “hopeful an agreement can be reached and a work stoppage can be avoided.”