By Petre Marin
LINCHPIN

CUPE 3903 members at York University have been on strike since November 6, 2008. The 3,400 contract faculty, teaching assistants and graduate assistants decided to bear the bitter cold and head for the picket lines following management’s refusal to consider their demands. Much is at stake in this strike, for CUPE 3903 members and beyond.

The workers’ demands include wage increases of 11% over two years to keep up with the rise in the cost of living in one of Canada’s most expensive cities. They are also demanding increased funding to benefits to reflect a 28% growth in membership. Another important demand is job security for contract faculty whose contracts typically last only one semester. These workers are required to re-apply for their job over and over every few months even as many of them have been teaching for years, sometimes decades.

Thus far the university has not offered anything that would increase job security for contract faculty. The university has offered a 9.25% wage “increase” over three years. However, by the union’s calculations, when inflation and proposed reductions to other benefits are taken into account, the “increase” actually becomes a decrease of over 1% per year. Meanwhile, the salaries of top management officials have risen between 15-43% over the past three years. Similarly, the university’s offer to increase child care funding (many members are parents) by $1,500 is hard to take seriously. The current child care fund only provides benefits to 30 members out of a membership of 3,400, and the proposed increase amounts to just over $2.25 per worker.

Already, a majority of CUPE 3903 members make wages below the poverty line. For example, teaching assistants, who are the largest group within the union, make $17,386 per year minus $3,700 for tuition. They cannot legally work a second job as full-time students. For all members, anything less than victory in this round of bargaining would mean increased poverty, more student debt and continued insecurity.

But even more is at stake here. In 2001 CUPE 3903 members won significant roll backs in tuition for themselves and have since continued to be among the strongest forces against rising tuition costs. A setback for CUPE 3903 will mean a setback for the struggle for free education for all students. This is why the anti-strike opposition of some York undergraduate students is incredibly short-sighted.

As inadequate as it is, CUPE 3903 members have the best contract in the province – a reflection of the incredibly low wages and dire working conditions across the sector. For example, teaching assistants at McMaster University in Hamilton earn a little over half of what York TAs earn and do not receive a tuition rebate. Wages and working conditions are even lower at most other Ontario universities.

Thus CUPE 3903’s contracts are the standard in the sector. Whether this standard is lowered or raised will have a significant impact on all part-time education workers in the university sector. For this reason other part-time education workers’ unions, such as CUPE 3906 at McMaster University, are supporting the strike.

The struggle of CUPE 3903 members is also significant for all precarious workers. The past decades of neoliberal restructuring led by governments of all stripes have produced an explosion of low-wage work with non-existent job security or benefits. More and more of us are working part-time and/or temporary jobs that come without pensions, health benefits, child care and other basic needs. A victory by CUPE 3903 will thus be an example of hope for all precarious workers that through common struggle we can improve our lives and the lives of those around us.

This strike has the potential to be a long fight. The university’s actions raise doubts about whether they are bargaining in good faith or simply hoping that the union will give in under pressure from angry students and economic hardship. Whatever the university’s intentions, CUPE 3903 members have a proud history of solidarity and holding out until victory. As anyone who has been to the picket lines recently can see, the workers are well-organized and most importantly they have a high morale. Other unions, student groups and other organizations have also thrown their support behind the strike. Given all that is at stake, it is encouraging to see that CUPE 3903 members will not be alone in fighting this battle.