BACKGROUNDER: Why teaching assistants are striking at U of T and York University
Posted March 2, 2015 12:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Teaching assistants and other contract staff are striking at the University of Toronto and York University.
What’s it all about?
Who?
CUPE 3902 represents more than 8,000 TAs, lab demonstrators, sessional instructors, exam invigilators and writing instructors at U of T.
At York, CUPE 3903 represents 3,700 teaching assistants and contract teachers. Forty per cent of its membership cast ballots in a strike vote at the end of January. Eighty per cent of those who voted were in favour of a strike.
When?
The York workers’ strike deadline is on Tuesday.
Why?
According to the union representing the U of T workers, the main issues are wages, healthcare benefits, unclear hiring practices and a lack of job security.
By its calculations, the average take-home pay for graduate students, after tuition is deducted, is about $15,000 a year, well below the poverty line.
Furthermore, the union says contract professors earn a third of their permanent staff peers for teaching the same classes.
The York union says two-thirds of undergraduate courses are taught by contract workers.
The union would like three-year contracts to ensure job security for its members. Instructors are currently hired on a per-term basis.
It’s also seeking wage increases.
So what?
The University of Toronto says classes are not be affected, but tutorial or lab sessions could be; however, the union claims 65 per cent of lectures and seminars will not take place.
At York, however, day-to-day business is expected to be affected. Classes, labs and tutorials could potentially be cancelled.
