CUPE Local 3903 and York University's Long Drawn Strike: A Degradation to Education
York University Picket Line
Since the start of November, students at York University in North York, Ontario have been sitting at the edge of their seats awaiting their classes to resume after a strike began with the re-negotiation of the Teaching Assistants (TA’s), Graduate Assistants (GA’s) and contract faculty contracts. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) started a strike after local 3903’s demands were not met by York Administration. The first semester has already been thrown out, exams could not be held, classes could not be finished, and students were given high hopes that after the holidays, classes would resume for the second semester.
Negotiations resumed on January 5th after the winter holidays with high hopes. A vote for their last offer was requested by York Administration, only to be denied by CUPE’s bargaining team to be brought to its members on January 7th. With York Administration and CUPE local 3903 butting heads, we are shown yet again that the value of education will always be undermined by the pursuit of profitability. As York University Administration continues to prove to us that it is no better than any corporation losing the trust of its consumers for the better good of maximum profits, we seem to be losing our hope in any kind of organization. Sure, it was easy to accept the fact that the gas companies were sky rocketing the prices of our fuel while brandishing a false 2% profit; that the big-three automobile companies dropped all kinds of innovation to save a few million dollars by not updating its factories to include the mass production of the electric car or the hydro-powered car – and thus probably sending them into oblivion; that the heads of banks in the U.S. cared less about the billions given to them by the government and wasting valuable tax payers’ money than the spa treatments they took as soon as the cheque cleared. Hell it was even easy to accept the fact that most charitable organizations only end up giving (maybe) 10 cents to every dollar given to them to those who need it. But when even those in charge of educating the future leaders of our world care less about resuming education promised to 50,000 students than the money they raised for their 50th anniversary celebrations (an estimated $180 Million), we know we have come to a very sad time.
I am in no means trying to blame this all on York Administration, rather I would like to point out that both sides seem to have forgotten the very notion behind education. When has it ever been for the pursuit of money? Sure, now-a-days we are constantly told, without a degree in post-secondary education, you might as well burn $30,000 every year, but it seems that the value of education today is only worth money. What ever happened to the pursuit of knowledge as being a noble pursuit? What happened to those who are willing to spend their entire lives trying to understand the world that much better? What happened to teachers and professors living everyday knowing they are shaping the minds of the future? What happened to the pride they would get when a former student made it big or changed the world for the better? Simple, we live in a selfish society where an individual will trample over anyone else in their way to make an extra buck.
I was once told that a youth who is cynical is not a youth at all. How many of us are cynics after seeing this long strike continue with no real end in sight? We all know the facts; binding arbitration has been offered by York and denied by CUPE; Local 3903 wants an 11% increase over two years plus a large increase in income support programs which would end up costing about $26 million; CUPE is trying to organize a province wide re-negotiation in 2010 which (if unsuccessful) will turn into a province wide university strike; York Admin. has offered a 9.25% pay increase in 3 years; According to York University “most Unit Teaching Assistants (TA’s) are currently guaranteed a minimum level of funding at a rate of $63.29 per hour.”; TA’s and GA’s do about 40-60% of the workload in any classroom, paying about $5,484 a year in tuition, and making under $17,000 a year for TA’s, under $10,000 for the GA’s and under $14,000 for contract faculty.
Facts are, if anything, easily twisted depending on the source you take it from. But here are some facts that you will not find on the CUPE website/leaflets or the York University website. Students payed easily the equivalent of the TA’s, GA’s, and contract faculty wages to be in school, depending on if you include living expenses and social spending. Now, money is consistently being wasted while awaiting classes to resume and no information is being given out to the public about the negotiations. Do students stay close to school, wasting more money in rent, food, and things to pass the increasing days by? Do students get a full time job to try to make/save money, only to await the random start of school and have to quit on their employer to get back to school? Do students move back home? They have already canceled their spring break and the first semester of school thanks to the strike, but they are quite possibly looking at staying in school into the summer break. Lets be realistic. Even if the strike ends now, the 50,000 students will probably be in school a month longer than anyone else in universities across the country, meaning they have that much less of a chance to get the well paying job they need to afford the ridiculous prices of tuition.
Here’s the truly sad part. While this strike has been going on, the media and most of the country’s citizens are only fed information from either York Administration or CUPE, but forget that the only people who are truly being affected are the students. The members of CUPE local 3903 who agreed to the strike are being paid through the union. Most of York’s Administration faculty are also being paid – and last year got a noticeable increase in pay as well. So while TA’s, GA’s, Contract Faculty, and York administration continue to be paid during the strike, students continue to lose money. Tell me, who is this strike truly affecting? If I could ask one question to CUPE local 3903, it would be to ask why go on strike when the only people who are really losing out in any of this are the students whose education is being flushed down the preverbal toilet. Who are you trying to fight, the people that employ you and need you to get the full length of their well deserved (and already paid for) education, or the administration who already have the tuition payments, not to mention, a yearly salary that will not be affected by any kind of strike?
So what have we learned from this situation? In most cases and in many organizations, the needs of the few always outweigh the needs of the many. When 3,500 CUPE members have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition fees, living expenses, and the valuable time of 50,000 students, what other conclusion is there?
This is no longer just a rage against the lack of respect for education, nor the sadness felt when money is put ahead of the pursuit of knowledge. This has turned into a rage against the system. For me, this has been the final straw. I thought we lived in a democratic country where the needs of the many always outdid those of the few. Whether it is the corporate bigwigs that go on spa treatments with tax payer money, dying automobile companies getting billions of dollars for failing to be innovative and keep up with international competition, or even Harper stopping Parliament in an attempt to keep power in conservative hands while the country’s citizens await real leadership (which seems no where in sight in Canada’s government), I continue to be proven wrong.
Thank you York University for teaching us all a valuable lesson. Thank you for showing us our naive belief that the system cared at all about the general masses. Thank you for showing us how little the provincial government cares about education by not stepping in and ending the strike. Thank you for showing us that in a time of economic uncertainty, money will always be put ahead of education, that the lowest of the low are the people in pursuit of knowledge. Thank you for showing us that we should be selfish in our endeavors, to hurt anyone in the way of monetary gain. Above all else, thank you for turning me into a cynic, I had been so blind to hope in humanity’s goodness, I now understand that ethics, honor, and education are nothing when compared to money.
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Tags: CUPE, Education, local 3903, strike, students, york university
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January 13th, 2009 at 2:39 am
As a student affected by the strike, CUPE is the clear villain in the situation. They made the most ridiculous original demand I have ever heard of. They claim it is also about job security, yet, most of those on strike are TAs, not those who only have the 1 year faculty contracts. They are already some of the best paid TAs in the country. Plus they took this job themselves. They can get an additional job, or they can find another job instead of whining like little babies. They knew what they were getting into, now they have to deal with it, or shut up and quit. Striking holds the students hostage and it is being done by the extremists in CUPE 3903 who actually bothered to vote. Its people like those in CUPE 3903 who make unions seem like horrible ideas.
January 13th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I am truly in shock by this whole situation, especially when knowing that the TAs are doing this to us. They are the ones always complaining because they have so much to do during the year, cry babies, these guys can’t handle studying and working at the same time, then why in the world did they take on that job? i don’t understand why these T As are even asking for any money, they are lucky to even hold these positions, but generally their admiration for themselves is higher than expected so i see why they think they deserve a raise. They are like my 3 year old daughter, if she wants something she cries about it until she gets it. I hope, seriously, to never have to see these people again in my life, they have completely ruined all hope and stimulation that once existed, forcefully by need, for education. they are weird, self-centered individuals who do not understand that the recession has caused many to loos their jobs and here these idiots are asking for more money plus tuition, etc., as if they are really all that….hahah…i truly hope one of them reads this comment because this is absolutely childish and incoherent. if school returns i plan on never speaking to them, i would rather throw an egg straight in their face than spit a word out to them…they are such losers, these T As. they have no idea that at anytime they will be fired and will never come back to York. I hope they all get fired right now they deserve nothing. what are they asking for? 40% ? so stupid do they not understand the economic roller coaster we are facing? do they not realize that there are people who are homeless and need the funding from the university to sustain their education? do they not realize that they’re actions are lame and that is why York does not even want to talk to them? do they not understand that once school resumes, they will be hated forever and if anything will quit because of the hostility that wil be shown to them? they are so dumb…that’s all i have to say…either way we will ALWAYS get our education back, they will NEVER get their respect back, EVER….
January 16th, 2009 at 1:20 am
This is very well written and I feel it reflects student interests and the third perspective on the dot. So far, many people have been one-sided in thinking the Union is bad. Many people support the administration, which I find really preposterous. The administration charges us insane tuition fees so they can make tons of money. A true student perspective is one that stands strong against both sides.
The fact of the matter is, the administration makes tons of money off us, the students. The union wants to make more money off us because the admin do. Only the students lose out. The students are the majority, the third estate, the third world, the third perspective. So let’s hope our real voices heard. Not the YFS which simply supports the union, nor ‘York Not Hostage’ which simply supports the administration. The true student perspective is very properly outlined in this post.
Thanks a bunch for the articulation!
January 25th, 2009 at 3:02 am
[...] Dalton McGuinty, will soon announce plans to legislate the CUPE 3903 workers – who have been striking since November – back to work. The government is hoping students will be back in class by next week. MPPs have [...]