Striking contract workers vote no to latest York University offer, union says
About 75% of members participated in the 'forced ratification vote,' CUPE says
Contract workers at York University have voted to reject the school's latest offer, their union has announced
On Monday, CUPE Local 3903 said 72 per cent of its members participated in the "forced ratification vote," a turnout that the union deemed "excellent."
Sriskandarajah added that the number of those who voted against the deal was higher than it was the first time it was offered.
"The employer has wasted not only weeks of our time, but also — and most importantly – weeks of students' semester in order to avoid bargaining," the union said in a statement.
The rejected deal means teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants at the school remain on strike.
In a statement Monday, York University said it was "deeply disappointed" by the result, saying the union "continues to maintain positions and proposals that are unreasonable, including wage increases of 3.5 per cent a year, proposals to limit academic excellence and over 30 other demands."
The two most hotly-contested issues "on which we remain far apart," says the school, are: the number of tenure positions given to union members without an open search, and a proposal for graduate students to maintain funding while doing non-academic work.
The school is now reviewing its next steps, which could include speaking to the government about options to end the strike.