U of T students support striking teaching assistants

Walkout planned for Wednesday afternoon

The University of Toronto students’ union has a walkout set for Wednesday afternoon.

The walkout is meant to demonstrate support for striking teaching and graduate assistants, and to give the union an opportunity to demand a tuition refund for cancelled labs and tutorials.

According to U of T student union member Housam Silim, 2,800 students are slated to attend the walk-out. One of Silim’s sociology classes is among those that have been been shut down.

He also says he thinks students who’ve been subject to such cancellations should be partially refunded.

The strike is now well into its third week, as negotiations have been unsuccessful thus far.

York University, whose teaching and graduate assistants are also on strike, will be resuming classes on Monday. While an agreement with contract faculty has been reached, assistants continue to picket. As a result, tenured staff have filed a grievance saying no classes should resume until the strikes settle. The grievance is being backed by a petition signed by several thousand students.

The student union rally is set to begin at 12:30 p.m. on King’s College Circle in front of the office of university president Meric Gertler.

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By: Themistoklis Alexis
Posted: Mar 19 2015 9:52 am
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