By: Matthew Spina, Molly Georgopoulos and Sushannah Smith
The York University strike continues after last night’s controversial ratification vote by contract faculty. Contract faculty are one of three bargaining units involved in the work stoppage.
Strike Captain Monika Lemke, told Seneca journalists that last night’s vote seemed compromised. 300 people were invited to vote, 295 signed in and the results ended up with 46 extra votes.
Two other votes are scheduled for tonight and tomorrow. Lemke says if this vote goes through, the idea is that Unit 2 faculty will be back to work on Monday. She says this is “nearly impossible”, because there is no remediation plan that works for their members. The strike started on March 5th with more than 3000 teaching assistants, contract faculty and research assistants walking out.
Robin Verrall and Rana Sukarieh are teacher’s assistants and PHD students at York University. They say the university has refused to come to the bargaining table. They blame York University President Rhonda Lenton.
Premier designate, Doug Ford, wants to bring back the legislature to pass back-to-work legislation over the summer. This would end the strike so that students can go back to school in the fall. The picketers we spoke with today say being forced back to work doesn’t sit well with them.
This is York University’s second strike in past three years. The last one lasted five weeks.
This is the longest university strike in Canadian history. Lemke says the strike could potentially last all summer.
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