McMaster University and the union representing teaching (TA) and research assistants (RA) agreed to meet with a provincial mediator on Friday to continue negotiations on a new contract.
The move comes amid a two-and-a-half-week strike by CUPE 3906 workers, whose demands include salary increases and tuition refunds.
The union represents about a third of the workforce at McMaster and disputes that the teaching assistants make up only 3.7 percent of the school’s annual payroll.
Despite the strike, which has been ongoing since November 21, the university’s facilities have remained open, and classes are expected to continue despite the industrial action.
A spokesperson for the university says the entity’s current salaries are “strong” for the part-time work done by assistants and that their current offer is “fair”.
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Teaching assistants at McMaster University strike
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Teaching assistants at McMaster University strike
“We respect the work they’re doing, we respect them as students, but we really just need to get back and focus on negotiating a new deal,” manager of communications Andrea Farquhar told Global News.
In mid-October, 90 percent of assistants voted yes for job action, demanding a fair and reasonable offer to protect students from tuition increases and address Hamilton’s rising cost of living problems and the lack of job opportunities for graduate students.
A group of McMaster students and faculty delivered giant letters to the university’s president on Thursday, showing their support for those workers.
Naia Lee, a second-year arts and science student, called the recent wave of inflation further challenges assistants trying to make enough to cover the cost of living.
“The inconvenience we’re experiencing during the strike just shows how essential TAs and RAs are to our learning,” Lee said. “Students deserve certainty about our education.”
On December 8, 2022, McMaster students displayed letters signed by more than 700 students and faculty on campus. The protesters maintain that McMaster has enough money to improve the deal currently on the table.
Global News
The letters, signed by more than 700 people, insist that McMaster has enough money to improve the deal currently on the table.
CUPE says the university made an estimated $232 million in 2021, but spent just under four percent of its total payroll on adjuncts’ wages last year.
The strike is the first labor disruption at McMaster since 2011. The last strike involving teaching assistants was in 2009.
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