Ontario students at the mercy of striking college personnel

They should get a major part or the entire part of the tuition for that period, returned to them. That would be only fair.

Meagan Fitzpatrick at CBC News
Will a lawsuit help Ontario students get their money back after college strike?

Frustrated students seek tuition refunds as government tries to open classrooms by Monday
Frustrated and financially burdened students affected by the Ontario colleges strike are turning to the courts to try to get some cash back.

A class action was commenced on Tuesday that seeks to recover tuition money on behalf of the thousands of students at 24 colleges who have been out of class since mid-October.

Going down the lawsuit road could be a long and ultimately unsuccessful journey, but there could still be some benefits to it in the short term, say class action experts.

"Bringing that lawsuit has got the plight of the students some more press and that is inherently pressure, political or otherwise, potentially economic, on the colleges at least, maybe the union," said Jason Squire, head of the class action group at Lerners LLP in Toronto.

Pressure on the Ontario government to step in and force an end to the strike, now in its fifth week, ramped up Thursday when the latest contract offer from the College Employer Council was rejected by striking faculty, represented by the Ontario Public Service Employees Union.

Premier Kathleen Wynne met with representatives from both sides on Thursday afternoon, and several hours later her government announced it would introduce legislation to force them into binding arbitration and end the strike. The premier said she wants to see students back in class by Monday morning......