I am at Convocation Hall for a meeting of the members of CUPE3902 Unit 1 – the union for teaching assistants at the University of Toronto.
We are discussing a tentative agreement which the bargaining team reached with the administration late last night.
To me, the proposed deal looks deeply inadequate. They are proposing wage increases of 1%, 1%, 1.25%, and 1.25% over the next four years.
For starters, the Bank of Canada calculator shows that the real value of the funding package has fallen by 9.89% since it was set in 2008. In addition, the proposed wage increases don’t even keep up with inflation for the years in which they happen.
We will see what happens in this meeting, but I hope my fellow union members won’t accept something so inadequate. The objective here is to get beyond poverty wages for TAs – not to reduce them further.
Tentative agreement
Summary of tentative agreement
Financial summary of tentative agreement
Friends,
After a crowded and raucous meeting in Convocation Hall, 1,000 members of Unit 1 decisively (approx. 90%) rejected the tentative agreement. Speaker after speaker at the microphone demanded respect and a better standard of living from our Employer.
This means that our Unit is past our strike deadline and without an agreement. We are therefore on strike as of now. Members should cease all bargaining-unit work immediately. You will be contacted by your Picket Captains this weekend, and strike duty will commence Monday.
If you have not yet filled out the Strike Questionnaire, which makes you eligible for strike pay and helps the Union assign you to strike duty, as soon as possible and BEFORE THE END OF TOMORROW (Saturday, Feb. 28) at the latest. It can be found at this link: http://cupe3902.org/2015/02/strike-questionnaire/.
The meeting tonight was clear, powerful and decisive. We are strong, and we are ready to strike. I’ll see you on the picket line.
In Solidarity,
–Ryan
Ryan Culpepper
Vice-Chair, Unit 1 and Unit 2
CUPE 3902
CUPE 3902 goes on strike