Hundreds of support staff were on the picket lines at Conestoga College’s Doon campus in Kitchener on Thursday after its union failed to reach a new contract.

The 600 support staff who work across Conestoga’s campuses — ranging from library technologists, facilities and trades workers, and staff in the financial aid and registrar office — centralized their picket line to the Kitchener campus on Thursday morning, with a co-ordinated strategy that will see members split between a morning and afternoon shift.

“We are tired — mentally, emotionally and physically,” Vikki Poirier, president of OPSEU Local 238, which represents support staff at the college, said. “We are down 190 full-time support staff positions at the college, and most of that work hasn’t gone anywhere.”

Support staff is an

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