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University, CUPE 3902 enter binding arbitration

Class is back in session.

After four weeks of escalating action that included walkouts, rallies, ratifications and rejections, the members of CUPE 3902, the union representing the University of Toronto’s teaching assistants, lab assistants, markers, graders and non-faculty course instructors has agreed to the university’s offer to take negotiations to binding arbitration. Tutorials and classes that were cancelled because of the strike have resumed.

Binding arbitration will allow both sides to present their cases to an independent third-party appointed by the Provincial Mediator. The two sides must accept whatever decision the mediator makes.

This comes after a week of growing public support for the striking workers, with faculty members refusing to cross picket lines and teaching classes in quads to academics such as Noam Chomsky voicing their support. Undergraduates have performed sit-ins and walk-outs in solidarity.

Last Tuesday, the Toronto Star published an open letter from university faculty members I support of the striking TAs. The letter called for “employment compensation [for the TAs] and an overall base funding package that reflect what it actually costs to live in Toronto.”

In a press release Monday, the university called the rejected agreement “by any objective measure, a fair and reasonable basis for a settlement and an end to the strike.” The agreement followed proposals by both sides that were rejected.

The last agreement that the union proposed to the university included a tuition reduction for unfunded graduate students and a $2,500 raise in the secured minimum funding package.

More to come.

news@nowtoronto.com | @nowtoronto

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