Carleton’s teaching assistants and contract instructors, represented by the union CUPE 4600, voted Feb. 13 in favour of giving the team bargaining with the university for their new collective agreement the power to call a strike, if necessary.
Teaching assistants voted 82.5 per cent in favour of the strike vote and contract instructors voted 87.5 per cent in favour, according to a Feb. 14 statement from the union’s executive.
A strike vote does not mean the union is going on strike, but authorizes them to call one.
CUPE 4600’s previous collective agreement with Carleton expired August 2013.
Dan Preece, vice-president of CUPE 4600 Unit 2, the unit doing bargaining for contract instructors, said salary is one of the main issues being discussed.
Tabatha Armstrong, a member of the Unit 1 bargaining team, which represents teaching assistants, said they are also negotiating for better wages.
The bargaining teams for both units are meeting to discuss next steps and hope to return to negotiations with the administration as soon as possible, the statement said.
“It is our hope that with such a clear mandate based on strong voter turnout, the employer will begin to seriously address our major concerns in a fair and reasonable manner,” it said.
