Students locked out of Vancouver Island University by a bitter faculty strike have been told that classes could be extended into the summer term if their semester is salvaged at all.
Nearly 20,000 VIU students have been out of classes since March 10, and many are incensed that their summer plans are in jeopardy. The university announced on Monday that the last day of classes will be delayed by nearly three weeks, until April 29. If bargaining does not produce a settlement, the semester could extend into May or be lost entirely.
"It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible," said L-A Shibish, a fourth-year tourism management student. "It took away the hope that we had a couple of days ago."
Ms. Shibish said students may miss out on summer internships because the semester has been extended.
"Now is the point where they reach that all-important first job to kick-start their career and … we can't commit to an employer to start the first of May."
Some students could find themselves without accommodations or student loans, or with tickets for flights they won't be able to take.
Nadine Chodl, an international student from Munich, Germany, said she could not afford to rebook her non-refundable flight scheduled to depart for home on April 20 so she has been going to the university to do whatever course work she can.
"First, I thought I'm going to stay here, but I crossed the picket line actually. … I'm getting things done and I'm leaving on time," Ms. Chodl said. "Nobody knows how long the strike is going to last."
Classes resumed for nearly 300 English as a Second Language students on March 23. The university furnished makeshift classrooms at the Waterfront Suites and Marina in downtown Nanaimo so that about 40 ESL teachers from one of the three striking unions could continue teaching. VIU got an injunction at the B.C. Labour Relations Board to ensure the hotel could not be picketed.
That didn't sit well with Dan McDonald, president of the VIU Faculty Association.
"I think we're obviously disappointed because it raises the possibility that the university might be taking actions designed to prolong the strike rather than actually bargain a conclusion to it," he said by phone on Friday. He could not be reached this week for further comment.
Toni O'Keeffe, a spokesperson for VIU, said the university asked the labour board on Monday for a second injunction that would permit classes to resume for trades students. The labour board hearing was unresolved late on Tuesday.
Ms. O'Keeffe said the parties returned to the bargaining table on Monday after a weeklong hiatus. The sides are at a stalemate, with the VIU Faculty Association calling for greater job security and the university offering a one-year extension to the existing agreement with no financial concessions. On Thursday, the union served the university with a defamation lawsuit, which exacerbated a situation that was already deteriorating because of the injunction applications.
For students like Sachiko Ishibashi, from Osaka, Japan, the damage has already been done.
"I definitely have to go back home because the recruitment system [for summer internships]in Japan is just once in a year. If I don't get back there just in time I won't get a job," she said.
Ms. Ishibashi added that she is eager to rejoin her friends, family, and others who are recovering from the earthquake and tsunami.
"I worry about my parents and I really want to be with them and help out other Japanese suffering from the earthquake," said Ms. Ishibashi. "It is really frustrating because I have to go back home but I won't be able to be here when the school is back."