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York Still On Strike

By David Topping

York University administration had hoped that a supervised vote of CUPE 3903 members yesterday and today would result in an acceptance of the school’s settlement to end the months-long strike. But results from the vote just came down the wire from CUPE, and all three voting units have declined the offer, with 61.7% of the first unit, 59.3% of the second unit, and 70% of the third unit voting “No.” The university quickly responded, quoting York President and Vice-Chancellor Mamdouh Shoukri, who said that “The clock has run out on CUPE…I will be working with the deans and Senate Executive to prepare plans to further extend the academic calendar to ensure that students complete their fall and winter terms. This will mean reducing or, if need be, cancelling the summer term.” Tick tock.

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  • http://null Spi Boy

    This is going to suck if students have to work into the summer. When are going to get to make money for the following school year… or better yet… when do they start new full-time jobs? Come September, most of the good jobs are gone. York is messing with to many people’s lives.

  • http://null Svend

    It’s a disgrace that both sides couldn’t sort this out.
    I imagine many students have decided to move on, their own way of striking.

  • http://null Lands Down

    What makes this intolerable is that the union is striking now so they can strike again in two years. Three months lost to secure two to three years of no unrest before another strike, with higher stakes and the potential to be even mroe fractious. This isn’t a a tenable long term situation, McGuinty should have stepped in a long time ago with back to work legislation.

  • http://undefined prosperewebitor

    They’ve been on strike for the equivalent of a semester. They’re screwing with the students and with their reputation. Twenty years ago, the school was a Last Chance U. Its reputation went up in the 1990s, but it’s going down again, sadly.

  • http://www.urbanennui.com urbanennui.com

    The real tragedy here is that students aren’t well served by a teaching staff filled largely with 8-month contract employees. The addition of more full-time staff, which sounds a lot like a victory for the union, is really in the (at least future) students’ best interest.
    Clearly, a quick resolution to this conflict (a victory for the administration?) is also in the students’ best interest.
    That it’s gotten to this point is a failure of both the university and union management. But, to complain about the lack of legislative intervention is a really Canadian thing to do and is probably inappropriate.
    There’s something inherently fascist about telling people they have to go back to work because they’re inconveniencing their institution’s customers (in this case, students.) That, my friends, is the purpose of a strike. It’s management’s problem to deal with.

  • http://null thewatchmaker

    In order for both sides to sort it out, both sides have to be interested in negotiating. York has showed up for fewer than 10 days of bargaining in 2 and a half months; and the forced ratification vote was an explicit attempt to avoid the bargaining process altogether.