More than 6,000 University of Toronto teacher’s assistants are on strike after they rejected an offer made last Friday.
“We are therefore on strike as of now. Members should cease all bargaining-unit work immediately,” the union release reads.
The strike comes at a critical time for students at U of T’s three campuses as with the end of the semester near. While university administration says classes are continuing, the strike means tutorials are cancelled and grading of students’ work has stopped.
“I can still go to my lectures yes, but my tutorials and labs are completely cancelled and I’m handing in work that may not even be graded any time soon,” says U of T student Muhammed Ziya.
TAs say while it is sad they are on strike, their current working condition is unacceptable because they are working longer hours than they should and expect higher wages for their work.
“Grading, teaching and lab work will be affected,” says Philip Baiden of the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union. “However, we hope that this will be resolved quickly.”
Students continue to attend their lectures but hope this TA strike will soon come to an end.
