Teaching assistants at U of T are now on strike after rejecting tentative offer

More than 6,000 teaching assistants (TA’s) at the University of Toronto are going out on strike after all.

The negotiators from CUPE local 3902 had reached a tentative deal, around 4 a.m. Friday morning, following a marathon round of talks.

But late Friday afternoon, 90 per cent of the TA’s who came to a meeting to learn about that deal voted it down.

It will not even go into a formal ratification process.

Picket lines are expected to start first thing Monday morning.

The TA’s at U of T look after about 60 per cent of all teaching at the University, and only make $15,000 per year on average. They were pushing for an increase, the first since 2008, to $23,000, the low income cut-off for Toronto.

A strike will disrupt tutorials, labs, and grading at the school.

CUPE 3902’s Thomas Laughlin provided the following statement after the deal was rejected.

“Our existence as student-workers at the University of Toronto is precarious; we need a fair compensation for the value we add to the university as researchers and education-workers,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, talks continue in hopes of averting a Tuesday strike for TA’s and other teaching staff at York University.

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