On Campus

U of T sessional faculty strike seems imminent

With 2 days left of negotiations, U of T administration insists classes will not be cancelled in the event of a Monday strike.

U of T’s administration tabled a new proposal in negotiations this afternoon, hoping to reach an agreement with the sessional faculty union (CUPE 3902, Unit 3) before  the fast approaching bargaining deadline of Monday the 9th. According to their website, the proposal “still falls short” of the Union’s mandate, and was thus rejected. The major issues being negotiated involve pay and job security; an in-depth discussion of the plight of sessional faculty members is found here.

Talks are scheduled to continue throughout the weekend, and despite what appears to be a real willingness to strike (the Union is already asking its members to sign up for picket duty), the University insists that classes will not be cancelled in the event of a strike. They have made it clear that Teaching Assistants will not be asked to fill in for the sessional faculty members. How they plan to find replacement professors for the 30% of classes affected remains an unexplained mystery.

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