Contract staff at York planning to strike

Contract staff at York University were preparing Sunday for a strike that would disrupt “business as usual” on campus.

Aunion representing contract staff at the university made clear over the weekend there were no scheduled negotiations ahead of a strike deadline of midnight Sunday. The bargaining team for CUPE 3903 said staff are planning to go on strike Monday after voting to reject the university’s final offer Friday after six months of negotiations. A Facebook page was organizing a solidarity rally at the main gates of the school Monday.

The union represents contract faculty members, teaching assistants, graduate assistants, research assistants and parttime librarians and archivists.

The union and school say their positions on a number of issues are too far apart to reach an agreement at this time.

“Despite CUPE 3903’s willingness to bargain, the York Administration has made it clear that they are not interested in improving the working conditions of its workers, or the learning conditions of its students,” the union posted on its Facebook page, adding they received a “NO” from the school on issues such as guaranteed funding for teaching assistants, job security for contract faculty, restoring 800 eliminated graduate assistant jobs and prioritizing equity, anti-racism and anti-sexual violence on campus.