Sessional lecturers at U of T reached a “tentative agreement” with the U of T administration shortly after 91 per cent of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 3902 Unit 3 members voted in favour of a strike mandate. The agreement is labelled “tentative” until it is ratified by the membership of CUPE 3902 Unit 3, the union which represents the sessional instructors.
CUPE 3902 announced on its website and social media that after 24 hours of negotiations, the agreement with the university came with the help of a Conciliation Officer, a service offered by the Ontario Ministry of Labour to settle disputes between workers and employers.
CUPE 3902 Unit 1, which represents teaching assistants at U of T, is holding a strike mandate vote on December 5. In 2015, Unit 1 went on strike throughout the month of March, and came to a final agreement in June 2015.
This comes on the heels of a five-week strike by faculty members at Ontario’s 24 public colleges, including Sheridan College and Centennial College, which have joint programs with UTM and UTSC, respectively.
