http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Sto...24-019/page.asp

It’s over.

After three long weeks, Ontario college teachers and the province's 24 colleges agreed to a mediation/arbitration process, meaning some students will head back to class as early as Monday.

"We are very pleased that the improvements to education quality that we have been fighting for will now be dealt with by an arbitrator who will consider our proposals and the employer's, on their merits," said Ted Montgomery, a college faculty bargaining team spokesman.

"It took two days for the employer to agree to our proposal, but the strike is over."

Instead of extending the strike well into the coming months, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the College Compensation and Appointments Council have agreed to resolve outstanding issues through voluntary binding arbitration.

At issue were smaller class sizes and the longer the strike went, the more difficult things would have become for the 150,000 students being kept out of the classroom and from finishing their year and in some cases, their degrees.

But none of that matters as of now.

"We are pleased the strike has ended," said Dr. Rick Miner, the chair of the colleges' committee of presidents.

"We value our faculty and our students and are looking forward to resuming classes next week. It will be wonderful to have everyone back in the classroom."

Ontario's roughly 9,100 college staff and teachers will return at the beginning of the week as per the agreement, while class reopenings will be determined by the individual schools. Students are asked to check their respective college's website for specific information.

For a list of Ontario colleges and their websites, click here.