University of Toronto president Meric Gertler is calling on CUPE 3902 Unit 1 leadership to agree to binding arbitration in a bid to end a multi-week strike involving some 6,000 teaching assistants (TAs), exam invigilators, and other academic staff.
Union members voted down a tentative agreement with the university early Monday morning.
“Today, I am calling on the leadership of CUPE 3902 Unit 1 to agree to binding arbitration,” said Gertler at a press conference this afternoon. “Under this process, an independent, neutral third party, appointed by the Provincial Mediator, would arbitrate all matters that remain in dispute and determine a final resolution that both parties would have to accept.
Gertler said that there is no deadline on the offer.
That tentative agreement was rejected with a vote count of 1,101 no to 992 yes, with 27 disallowed and 4 spoiled.
On Monday evening, a strike contingency plan outlined in an email sent out to all undergraduates in the Faculty of Arts & Science faced sharp backlash.
No Canadian post-secondary institution has lost an academic term due to a strike.
