Strike Resources for
CUPE 3902 Members
Strike FAQ
A strike is typically a full withdrawal of our labour. It usually means that we all stop our Unit 1 and/or Unit 5 work, but it can also encompass other activities that slow or limit work such as walkouts, teach ins, or sit ins, work to rule, and rotating strikes.
The University of Toronto is Canada’s richest and largest university. Its wealth comes at the expense of its most precarious workers. U of T is unwilling to treat us with respect and dignity and give us the conditions necessary to provide the high quality research and education that our students deserve. You and your coworkers can engage in the ultimate expression of collective power: striking.
Your Local will call a strike only if all other reasonable efforts to arrive at a collective agreement are unsuccessful.
If we go on strike, it’s because the employer refused to address the systemic problems that prevent you and your co-workers from providing a world class educational experience.
ALL currently working members of CUPE 3902 Unit 1 and Unit 5 will be able to legally strike on March 4th. in a strike. Unit 1 covers the following positions when they are performed by U of T students or postdoctoral fellows: teaching assistants, teaching fellows, demonstrators, tutors, markers, course instructors, teaching laboratory assistants, chief presiding officers, and invigilators. Unit 5 are all persons employed as postdoctoral fellows at the U of T whose primary source of funding comes from the university.
Your employer will NOT pay you for your bargaining unit work while you are on strike or Lockout. In the case of a strike, you will receive strike pay of $300/week (non-taxable income) for 20 hours of picketing. Alternate duties (like supporting picket lines and pay administration) are possible. Find out more about alternate duties here.
IMPORTANT: In order to get paid, you must fill out a Strike Pay Application Form (Form E).
We do the work we do for our students. If a strike happens it will be because of U of T‘s refusal to address systemic problems that prevent us from providing a world class educational experience. If we strike, we do so because our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions—they are one and the same.
BEFORE A STRIKE: You should tell your students about bargaining ASAP and why you might go on strike. Let them know they can stay up to date online. You and your students can also refer to this Strike FAQ for Undergraduate Students.
If they ask questions, answer honestly, and if you don’t know the answer, ask your steward or tell them to ask their registrar.
DURING A STRIKE: You should not engage in any of your regular teaching (Unit 1) or research (if you’re in Unit 5) duties during a strike. This includes holding classes or tutorials, marking, prep work, and consulting/emailing with students. For Unit 5, this includes normal research activities and training students.
For Unit 1, you can set up an automatic reply for emails from within U of T that says:
CUPE 3902 Unit 1 is currently on strike. I will not be performing my Unit 1 work, including email with students, marking, or conducting tutorials/labs. I am continuing my research as normal.
For Unit 5, this automatic reply might instead read: CUPE 3902 Unit 5 is currently on strike. I will not be performing my Unit 5 research or training duties for the duration of this strike.
You do not need to talk to your boss about a strike.
It’s illegal for your boss to start a conversation about striking. If they do and you’re uncomfortable, ask them to stop. If they insist, report it to CUPE 3902 (vp1@cupe3902.org for Unit 1 and vp3@cupe3902.org for Unit 5).
If there’s a strike or lockout for your unit, you should stop your bargaining unit work (TA, CI, CPO, postdoc) and join your coworkers on the picket line.
Your Unit 1 bargaining unit work as as TA, CI, CPO, etc. is separate from your academic research work. For Unit 5, all research work should be withheld.
As much as possible, take all other university work and activities off-campus (clubs, class, non-bargaining unit research).
Postdoctoral fellows who are awarded the majority of their funding from any other sources, including but not limited to NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, and the Mellon Foundation, are currently not members of Unit 5 and are not covered by our collective agreement therefore will NOT be in a position to legally strike, but you are welcome to join the picket lines to support your fellow postdocs and graduate workers when you are not working.
Your graduate funding from your funding package (i.e., the non-Unit 1 income from your funding package) is usually not affected by a potential strike.
No. All workers are covered by labour law and enjoy the same rights regardless of citizenship status. You cannot lose your visa or work permit by taking part in a legal strike or job action. For more information on your visa/work permit during the strike, see Assessing in the event of a strike.
You will continue to receive your base plan benefits during a strike. CUPE National will cover the premiums for your Unit 1 Top-Up Plan and/or HCSA, as well as the Unit 5 PDF plan, and therefore you will continue to have coverage during a strike.
What should I do when there is a picket line outside my building?
A picket line is a physical barrier whose purpose is to block entry to a facility and halt production. Do not cross a picket line! If you see a picket line, talk to the picket captain, or wait for the line to move.
Move as much of your research, work, or campus activities to off-campus sites as possible. Stay on campus only as long as your academic work requires.
It’s sometimes impossible to tell whether your instructor is faculty or a contract educator. The only way to know is to ask them. Almost all teaching assistants are part of CUPE 3902.
Some may stop entirely; some will have lectures but no tutorials or lab. For many, assignments will not be marked for the duration of the strike because teaching assistants do the vast majority of marking at U of T.
We’re letting you know this information because we enjoy working at the University of Toronto and enjoy teaching our students. We want to be able to provide the high quality education you come to U of T to get.
The University of Toronto will insist on pinning students against workers—as they always do. We do the work we do for our students. If a strike happens, it will be because of U of T’s refusal to address systemic problems that prevent us from providing a world-class educational experience.
If we strike, we do so because our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions—they’re one and the same.
But it is not a zero sum game. Investing in teaching assistants and CIs with a living wage, good healthcare, and fair workloads is a commitment to a high-quality education and world-class research.
The university may implement an Academic Continuity Policy which circumvents the work educators do (marking, labs, tutorials). This is at the expense of the quality of education U of T provides to students. Whether this policy is implemented is up to the university and its priorities—quality education or their bottom line; a quality degree or dollars in their pocket.
Professors who do the work that would otherwise be done by their TAs are crossing the picket line.
Because teaching assistants and course instructors write most of your feedback and grade your work at U of T, during a strike, there shouldn’t be any new grades released. After a successful conclusion of a strike, it’s up to U of T to make a reasonable plan to resume marking—unless your department waived assignments.
Take as much of your university work and activities off-campus as possible, including clubs and classes.
If you see a picket line, do not cross!
Crossing a picket line is when you walk through a group of workers and enter a building or property that unionized workers are picketing.
If you have a class in a building that is being picketed, you are not required to cross a picket line to attend, and professors are expected to accommodate students who refuse to cross.
Not all buildings may be picketed every day. If there’s no picket line outside the building that your course is in, you will still be expected to attend. Non-CUPE 3902 undergrads are welcome to join the picket lines.
Crossing a picket line shows that you are siding with management and U of T’s administration over teaching assistants, course instructors, postdocs, caretakers, and other U of T support workers.
CUPE members will go on strike only if all other reasonable efforts to arrive at a collective agreement are unsuccessful.
If we go on strike, it’s because U of T refused to address the systemic problems that prevent teaching assistants, course instructors, postdoctoral fellows, caretakers, and other support workers from providing a world-class educational experience.
Send an email to the Governing Council and tell them to give campus workers a living wage!
Click here: https://weareuoft.com/
Follow CUPE 3902 on social media for the latest updates.
Talk to your instructor about CUPE 3902 negotiations!
Don’t cross picket lines!