Early days of strike cause chaos for students

By Leah Vandenberg

BELLEVILLE, On. Signs on Wallbridge-Loyalist Rd. warn drivers of possible delays due to strike activity. Photo by Leah Vandenberg.

During the first days of a strike, Loyalist College support workers welcomed students back by handing them flyers, causing major traffic delays.

“The first day we waited for two hours to get in,” said Megan Pounder, an Esthetics and Spa Management student.

Cars were idling along Wallbridge-Loyalist road for up to two hours as picketers stopped each car entering to hand them a flyer.  Students complained of time and gas wasted, missing orientation and being late for class.

Justice Studies student Kaylah Wilson said by now she would have expected the police to be involved.

“The first day I could see the confusion, but it’s been three days now. I would be a lot more comfortable if the police monitor the situation,” she said.

While some students are supportive of what the college workers are striking for, they also think it is a disrespectful way to express it.

Wilson feels she should not have to plan her schedule around the traffic delays and the strike.

“I have two kids and not only myself to think about throughout my morning routine,” she said.

Students aren’t the only ones who are feeling the sting for the traffic lineup. As the cars line up to enter the school, they are blocking laneways, a high school and a school bus route where children line up on the shoulder of the road.

Amanda Keys said the police should be out there to guide traffic.

“The police could be out there with pylons along the side of the road to help ease traffic onto the shoulder, so oncoming traffic doesn’t have to go out of their way to accommodate for the people who are waiting,” she said.

Amanda Keys and Megan Pounder both carpool to school while Kaylah Wilson has her own vehicle.

Wilson noted she saw a picketer guiding traffic and feels that should be a police officer’s job.

“It’s only a matter of time before an accident occurs,” Wilson said.

Students have gossiped about drivers who take “short cuts” by driving over the grass and in between trees to avoid picketers and get into the school parking lot quicker.

Calls to the Belleville Police for a comment went unanswered.