by Doug Nesbitt
Toronto is in the midst of an unprecedented strike by over 10,000 teaching assistants (TAs) and contract faculty at York University and the University of Toronto, Canada’s two largest universities.
CUPE 3902 (U of T) TAs are on strike to raise their minimum guaranteed funding. The average salary is $15,000 per year and has been frozen at that rate since 2008. CUPE 3902 went on strike when offered 4.5 per cent in wage increases over three years — in contrast, the annual cap on tuition fee increases is 5 per cent. The strike started when this offer was overwhelmingly rejected by a meeting of 1,000 union members. Six thousand TAs are now on strike and the membership has since voted on another offer, with the polls closing at 4:00 p.m. on March 22.
Originally, when members of CUPE 3903 (York) went on strike, contract instructors (CI) joined TAs on the picket lines. CIs have since accepted an offer, but TAs are still on strike. Among the contentious issues here is York’s decision to reinterpret a piece of contract language in 2013 (in place since 1998), allowing them to raise international graduate student tuition fees by $7,000 in a single year. Originally, the contract language of “tuition increase protection” froze tuition fees for all teaching assistants to prevent tuition from outpacing wage increases. This is precisely the sort of dilemma that U of T TAs find themselves in: tuition fees continually cancel out any wage increases and cut into overall funding packages, resulting in a net loss of income.
The strike continues as CUPE negotiates with the two universities, to secure higher salaries for TAs and CIs. Many classes are slated to resume on Mar. 23 at York, while students at U of T will have to wait a little longer. Thousands of undergraduate students have also stood up in solidarity with the TAs and CIs, organizing academic walkouts and standing alongside their TAs and professors on the picket lines. However, U of T TAs reached a tentative deal with the university on Mar. 18. It is not officially known what the parameters of the deal are, but some grad students took to Twitter, saying the deal could lead to a $2,500 salary increase for some.
This article first appeared in the Leveller Vol.7, No.6 (Spring 2015).
