Union urges York University TAs to vote for strike mandate
Posted March 15, 2012 8:43 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The union representing teaching assistants and other faculty at York University is urging its members to vote for a strike mandate as they wait for the school to respond to a proposed package.
“We have asked the employer to respond to our Memorandum of Settlement on Thursday, however we have no guarantee that they will,” CUPE Local 3903 said on its website.
“In the meantime we urge members to come out and vote in favour of a strike mandate. We believe that a strong showing at the polls this week will help encourage the employer to take our proposed settlement seriously.”
Voting started Monday for the more than 3,300 contract faculty and teaching, graduate and research assistants at York. They have until Friday at both the Keele and Glendon campuses to cast ballots.
The union is asking for a 12-per-cent wage increase over three years, which it says is less than the recent deal for University of Toronto teaching assistants. CUPE says though the school has eased up in some areas, it still wants concessions the union views as unacceptable, like reducing the number of tenure-track promotions.
Talks between the two sides started last November, but stalled last month.
