Tentative agreement reached with York University workers, union says

The union representing thousands of academic workers says a tentative agreement has been reached with York University after several weeks of strike action.

CUPE Local 3903, which represents about 3,000 academic workers, said the tentative deal was reached on Sunday night after an “intense weekend of bargaining in which both sides exchanged multiple passes.”

“Although we didn’t achieve everything we wanted to in this round of bargaining, we have obtained some notable gains that make this deal—the best we could get under the circumstances—worth endorsing,” the union said in a statement.

The union said details of the ratification vote will take place sometime this week. If the workers ratify the deal, they would return to work the following day.

“For the first time in seven weeks, there is a potential deal in sight for workers on the picket lines at York University,” the statement read.

Staff had walked off the job on Feb. 26. The striking workers – who include contract faculty, teaching and graduate assistants, research assistants and part-time librarians – said at the time the school had not met demands to address an affordability crisis.

&© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.