Union enters legal strike position the day classes resume
TORONTO – More than 6,100 administrative and technical staff at the University of Toronto have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate.
Fully 96 per cent of a United Steelworkers Local 1998 unit voted yes. The union enters a legal strike position on Tuesday, the first day of classes.
“UofT says it will find $20 million in savings next year by not replacing employees who leave the university,” said John Ankenman, president of Local 1998. “That will worsen the heavy workload burden that many of our members already face. The university has not responded in a significant way to the union’s contract proposals that would lead to increased job security, which is our members’ number one non-monetary priority. We’ll keep fighting to win the protection they deserve.”
It’s one of the issues on which the union and university remain far apart after two months of bargaining. Other outstanding issues include remote work; artificial intelligence protections; wage increases to keep pace with the rising cost of living; and health care benefits.
“We’re going to continue bargaining through the weekend and are committed to reaching a negotiated settlement,” said Tamara Vickery, the local’s vice-president and president of the staff appointed unit that’s soon to enter a strike position. “An unprecedented number of members cast a ballot in favour of a strike mandate, and it’s notable that 75.1% of the staff appointed membership voted. That gives power to the union’s elected negotiating committee.”
Vickery’s unit, Local 1998’s largest, includes a wide variety of workers, including IT, undergraduate and graduate program coordinators, academic advisors, lab assistants and even a piano technician at the Faculty of Music.
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