Nearly 3,000 workers at York University begin strike

Picket lines will be set up outside York University this morning.

Nearly 3,000 contract instructors, teaching assistants and graduate assistants at the school are going on strike —  demanding the university deal “address the affordability crisis.”

On the schools website, the university says its top priority is supporting students and their learning.

They can get updates on what’s happened to their classes through the “course status” website.

The union representing staff at the school said that the cost of living in Toronto has skyrocketed since the last contract, and the university needs to recognize that.

“Because of Bill 124, wage increases were capped at 1 per cent for three years. Now that the bill has been struck down as unconstitutional, the academic workers are looking for wage increases to make up this shortfall and to index compensation to inflation going forward,” Stephanie Latella, CUPE 3903 Chairperson, said.

According to a report from the Auditor General of Ontario, 75 per cent of the university’s full-time and part-time staff are made up of members from 14 different unions, eight of which represent academic staff and six which represent non-academic staff.

The report goes on to say that while the university was financially sustainable during the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the majority of the school’s faculties were run with operating expenses that exceeded its revenues.