York University strike ends as CUPE 3903 votes yes to new contract

Striking York University teaching assistants and other contract staff voted overwhelmingly to accept a new contract and end the strike that had crippled the Toronto university this month.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3903 Unit 1 voted 750 to 37 to accept the new offer, while Unit 3 voted 175 to 16 in favour of the new deal, which took weeks to hammer out according to union leaders. Just 42 per cent of Unit 1 workers voted, while only 23 per cent of Unit 3 workers cast a ballot. 

Terms of the new agreement weren't immediately shared.

CUPE 3903 chairman Faiz Ahmed previously told CBC News that the university has agreed to several measures, including: a tuition reduction for international graduate students, an increase of the overall funding package for graduate assistants by $2,000 and a tuition freeze for the length of the collective agreement.

"This is excellent news for the entire York community," said Mamdouh Shoukri, York's president and vice-chancellor following the vote. 

"I know this past month has been extremely challenging for everyone, and particularly for our students, who are working hard to finish their courses and programs and to successfully complete their terms," Shoukri said in a news release.

All classes are set to resume tomorrow, the university said, and part of the final exam schedule will be released tomorrow.

The strike, which began on March 3, initially suspended all classes at the university. Many classes were restarted, however, after contract faculty accepted a new deal on March 9.

York is one of the largest universities in Canada, with around 47,000 undergraduate students and another 6,000 graduate students.