CUPE 3903 strike campaign for contract academic workers at York University, 2015

In March 2015, York University's CUPE 3903 Unit 1, which represents teaching assistants, went on strike after voting to reject the university's offer for their work contract, which led to class cancellations. CUPE 3903 had been negotiating new contracts for its three units, who had been without a contract since August 2014. Unit 2 was also on strike at the time. Issues vary for the different units of CUPE 3903 but included job security, full time wages, indexing tuition, lower tuition for international, and LGBTQ to be included as an equity group in the collective agreement. As part of the strike, union members staged daily picket lines, with support from allied undergraduate students and the York faculty association. On March 9, 2015, union members voted to reject the University's latest tentative agreement, continuing the strike. The University suspended all academic activities, although some programs were excepted. In late March, Unit3 members voted “yes” to a tentative settlement that included the York administration agreement to adding tuition offset language, making LGBTQ an equity group, and increasing minimum summer funding for members as well as their pay while striking. A publicized incident during the strike was a hit-and-run by an angry driver, who removed a barricade and hit two picketers.