On October 26, 2000, approximately 2200 members of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 3903 went on strike, united under the slogan "Strike to Win!" CUPE 3903, which consists of teaching assistants, contract faculty, and graduate and research assistants at York University, walked off the job after four months of negotiations.

York wanted to eliminate tuition "indexation" - which guarantees monetary rebates for every dollar that tuition rises, thereby regulating tuition and preventing the wages of graduate students who work as teaching assistants (T.A.s) from being eroded by tuition increases - by denying it to future T.A.s CUPE 3903's job promotions programs for contract faculty, which provide a small number of positions with higher pay and increased job security, was being threatened with near-extinction by York's administration. Requests by CUPE 3903's newly organized graduate and
research assistants for a fair and uniform base wage as well as some minimal benefits and summer funding were systematically denied.

Defending Access to Education

The significance of the strike extends well beyond the confines of York University. CUPE 3903 has been able to secure one of the best contracts for contract faculty in the country. In addition, CUPE 3903 is the only university union to have successfully reregulated graduate tuition fees (which are no longer capped in Ontario) - an accomplishment which continues to be a thorn in the side of York's administration and which is fundamentally at odds with a provincial government dedicated to deregulation.

Other university administrators are watching this strike with trepidation, knowing that other unions in the university sector will be preparing to wage battles on the basis of similar demands. Last year, striking T.A.s at the University of Toronto sought tuition indexation as one of their key demands. Carleton University TAs have recently taken up this issue.

At the heart of tuition indexation is the notion that tuition should not become higher and education should not become less accessible than it is at present. Organizing graduate and research assistants is another way that CUPE 3903 is trying to make education just a little more accessible for some student workers.

The aim of accessible education runs counter to the goals of York's Board of Governors (BOG). Twenty-four of its thirty-three members are members of the corporate elite. Their primary loyalty is not to the provision of universally accessible quality public education, but to their stockholders, who seek ever-increasing profits. As profit-makers, these BOG members (in their roles as CEOs and chairpersons of corporations) are compelled to demand cuts to education and social programs which force universities into profit-making relationships with corporations and which enable corporate taxes to be lowered. These BOG members, as CEOs of banks, also profit from student debt.

Democracy Builds Power

The strike has created a newly mobilized and militant layer in the union, fostered in part by the highly democratic and open structure of CUPE 3903. When administrators ordered picketers off York property and threatened to charge us with trespassing, we held a mass meeting where it was overwhelmingly decided to stay where we were and continue picketing. Weekly general membership meetings and daily strike committee meetings are only a few examples of the structures in place to facilitate a high degree of participation and collective decision making. This democratic structure treats the process by which decisions are made as just as important as the content of our bargaining proposals or the end result of our actions.

In seeking this high level of participation and decision making from its members, CUPE 3903 has helped to mobilize, organize, politicize, and radicalize many members, new and old alike, few of whom had previous experience in unions or strikes. CUPE 3903 members have organized and participated in numerous demonstrations, direct actions (such as occupying offices of BOG members and federal Liberal headquarters) and other activities in addition to picketing.

As this issue goes to press, the strike faces its greatest challenge so far. York is using provincial labour law to force a ratification vote on Jan. 4 and 5 on an offer that strikers already decided was not worthy of a vote. Whatever the outcome, the spirit of resistance will remain strong in CUPE 3903!

Updates on the strike are available at the CUPE 3903 webpage strike.cupe3903.tao.ca or by calling (416) 636-5974.

Clarice Kuhling is a member of CUPE 3903 and the New Socialist Group.