Striking U of T, York U workers rally for post-secondary education funding
Posted March 21, 2015 1:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Striking University of Toronto and York University education workers rallied on Saturday where they called for accessible, high-quality education.
About 500 people gathered at Yonge-Dundas Square before marching to Queen’s Park.
The crowd was made up of striking workers as well as supporters from a number of organizations including the Canadian Federation of Students, the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Steel Workers Toronto Area Council.
Event organizer Garry Sran said they want the province to properly fund post-secondary education and reduce tuition fees.
“Roughly 30 years ago, 80 per cent of university budgets were funded by the provincial government and today that stands at roughly 50 per cent,” he explained.
Thousands of teaching assistants from both universities walked off the job about three weeks ago.
Several protesters told 680News, as things stand right now, they can barely make a living wage with their current salary as a teaching assistant. They feel their wages should at least meet the poverty line.
“Inadequate funding leads to inadequate working and learning conditions,” Faiz Ahmed, chair of CUPE 3903, said in a statement Saturday. “Our strikes are about improving the quality of education of our students, and fighting against tuition fee increases.”
The rally comes as a tentative deal with U of T teaching assistants — who have been on strike since Feb. 27 — heads for a ratification vote this weekend.
