Students at the University of Toronto (U of T) performed a campus-wide walkout March 18 to show support for striking education workers and to demand a tuition refund for classes missed due to the strike.
At 12:10 p.m., more than 1,000 students walked out of class to join a rally outside of the university’s administrative offices.
The walkout was planned by Students First, a coalition of students in solidarity with the 6,000 teaching assistants, instructors, and tutors who have been on strike as part of CUPE 3902 since Feb. 27.
Yolen Bollo-Kamara, president of the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU) and one of the rally’s organizers, said the walkout was motivated by two central demands: negotiation and compensation.
“Our main demand was a return to the bargaining table to negotiate towards a fair agreement to end the strike,” she said. “But we were also pushing for compensation for students due to the lectures and tutorials that have been missed during the strike.”
Bollo-Kamara said Students First decided on a student walkout in order to send a clear message to both the university and the general public.
“The university has been trying to perpetuate in the media that things at the school are normal and undergraduate students are not being negatively impacted by the strike,” she said. “However, this is not the case.”
According to Bollo-Kamara, hundreds of complaints have been filed to the UTSU since the beginning of the strike regarding class cancellations and a lack of student support services.
“Business is not continuing as usual and undergrads are frustrated by the fact that classes are being cancelled and they aren’t getting the support they need,” she said. “So far, the university hasn’t been very proactive in communicating with these students.”
Melissa Vincent, a second-year U of T student who participated in the walkout, said she was motivated to take part in the rally due to the university’s response to student concerns.
“Very little about the situation has been made transparent and there is a sense that the university is trying to pretend that everything is going smoothly when that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said.
According to Vincent, frustration has been a common feeling on campus as labs and tutorials are frequently cancelled and many assignments and midterms have yet to be handed back.
“The walkout was one of the few ways I could outwardly show my support for the teaching assistants,” she said.
However, Vincent said support for the walkout and the strike in general has been divided on campus.
“For students who are graduating in a few weeks or have had courses cancelled, the strike has been incredibly upsetting,” she said. “Despite being divided, the turnout for the rally was solid and it definitely created a lot of discussion on campus.”
On March 19, the day following the student walkout, the university proposed a revised offer of settlement to CUPE 3902, which proceeded to a ratification vote.
However, on March 23 CUPE 3902 members narrowly rejected the offer, deciding it failed to address underlying wage and job security issues.
In a press release issued later that day, Professor Angela Hildyard, vice-president (human resources and equity) at U of T, said:
“We continue to be in close contact with the Provincial Mediator and remain committed to finding a solution to this impasse that would end the strike and allow affected students to complete their academic term without further disruption.”
