'Unproductive day at the table': Negotiations between Western graduate TAs and university stall
CTV
Flanked by major union players from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Federation of Labour, approximately 2,000 graduate-level teaching assistants (GTAs) at Western University remain on the picket line.
Flanked by major union players from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the Ontario Federation of Labour, approximately 2,000 graduate-level teaching assistants (GTAs) at Western University remain on the picket line.
According to members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 610, negotiations with Western University stalled Friday over housing subsidy and increased wages.
“It was a very unproductive day at the table,” said PSAC Local 610 president Pardis Baha.
“Unfortunately, the employer (Western University) demonstrated once again that they're not here to make a deal and they're not here to hear our concerns. We've made our message clear. We are ready to return back to the bargaining table when they are ready to take our concern seriously and do something meaningful about them."
This weekend, The London District Labour Council brought in some heavy hitters to join in a “solidarity rally."
The picket lines included provincial representatives from the PSAC, the Ontario Federation of Labour, CUPE and a London NDP MPP.
“Everyone who is here today is saying to Western, ‘For the love of God, come back to the table and start to pay these people what they're worth,’” said CUPE president Fred Hahn. “We're talking here about people that do a big chunk of the instruction are forced to live in poverty. I don't think anyone thinks that's right."
