McMaster University teaching assistants might be going on strike
- Craig Clark
- 12 Nov 2019
McMaster teaching assistants could strike as soon as two weeks from now after the two sides failed to reach a contract agreement.
A 'no-board' report has been requested, CUPE 3906 (Unit 1) will be in a legal strike position by late November. We hope to secure a fair and meaningful contract in mediation on November 19thhttps://t.co/3YytTuuIQc
— CUPE Local 3906 (@cupe_3906) November 6, 2019
The strike would see hundreds of TAs take action that would affect thousands of students and the fall semester’s grading and marking during the upcoming exam period.
The largest group represented by CUPE Local 3906 are TAs, but the contract also includes markers, research assistants and teaching material demonstrators.
CUPE Local 3906 president Nathan Todd says they blame the Doug Ford government after they capped salary increases in the public sector to 1%. Todd says McMaster is also demanding concessions related to hours of work, wages, training and benefits.
The group filed a request for a no board report on Friday from the Ontario Ministry of Labour. That means a strike or lockout could happen as soon as November 25th. McMaster says that they applied for the no board report together with the union. And a meeting with a mediator has been scheduled for November 19th.
Teaching assistants provide part-time support in university classrooms, lecture halls and study groups. Most of the McMaster TAs earn $43.63 per hour if they are graduate students while others earn $25.30 per hour. A graduate TA normally has a contract for 260 hours a year and must be enrolled in full-time studies that costs around $8000 a year. At the end of it all, TAs usually walk away with $5000 per year.
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