Camosun College support staff are off the job Tuesday as part of a mass strike at five colleges across the province.

Louise Oetting, chief steward for CUPE local 2081 at Camosun confirmed that its 600 members would picket at the Interurban and Lansdowne campuses Tuesday and possibly Wednesday.

A vote on Nov. 10 saw 96 per cent of voting CUPE 2081 members favour a strike. At issue for the union is job security and equal pay, as compared to their counterparts in other unions.

B次元官网网址淎ll weB次元官网网址檙e asking is to be treated the same as everybody else in the province that received the 0-0-2-2 (per cent deal), and theyB次元官网网址檝e come back and offered us less than that,B次元官网网址� Oetting said.

The University of Victoria recently made peace with its CUPE unions with a 0-0-2-2 contract, which offers two per cent increases in 2013 and 2014. Oetting said theyB次元官网网址檝e been unofficially offered a 0-0-1-1 deal. B次元官网网址淲e do the same job as other post-secondary workers,B次元官网网址� she said.

CUPE 2081 at Camosun represents some 600 maintenance, grounds, custodial, front line, clerical, secretarial, bookstore, library, instructional assistants, admin support, cafeteria, trades, sports and recreation staff.

Provincial CUPE organizers expect 3,000 members to walk off the job on today from Camosun, Vancouver Island University, College of New Caledonia, College of the Rockies and North Island College.

The Post Secondary EmployersB次元官网网址� Association, the governmentB次元官网网址檚 bargaining agent, said in a statement to the B次元官网网址 that it doesnB次元官网网址檛 discuss bargaining details, but said colleges have a tough job of finding cost savings.

B次元官网网址淲e are aware that some unions are frustrated with negotiations,B次元官网网址� PSEA said. "This is a difficult round of bargaining and each sector is involved in separate negotiations and may reach different agreements.B次元官网网址�

Camosun College expects picketing to continue Wednesday, but for college operations to return to normal Thursday.

B次元官网网址淭here certainly will be some disruption (of classes) but two days is manageable,B次元官网网址� said Joan Yates, executive director of communications with Camosun.

Yates said classes will be open on strike days, but noted that faculty members have the right not to cross picket lines. Most student services will not be open Tuesday or Wednesday at Interurban or Landsdowne.

Camosun's homepage at  has a long list of cancelled classes for today.

-- with files from Edward Hill

kslavin@saanichnews.com