Striking academic workers say they want to negotiate a deal, and have rejected York University’s plea for arbitration, calling it a last resort.

But York now says “we are at that point of last resort.”

With the two sides not budging, the strike now six weeks old and the school year nearing the end, post-secondary Minister Mitzie Hunter is urging York and Local 3903 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees to get back to bargaining.

“This is a situation that is concerning,” she said in the legislature. “... We know that the priority has to be to settle this agreement and focus on students’ education.

“My call to both sides in this situation is that they get back to the table and recognize that compromise is needed on both sides. If we put the needs of the students first and their learning — I ask both sides to do that and to come to an agreement that is fair for both parties.”

Some 3,000 teaching assistants, graduate assistants and contract faculty walked off the job in early March, seeking improved job security, pay and benefits. About half of classes have been cancelled, and should the strike drag on much longer the semester may be extended into the summer.

NDP Education Critic Peggy Sattler accused the government of “years of underfunding of post-secondary education,” saying it “has led to an explosion of insecure, unstable and low-paid academic jobs and undermined the quality of post-secondary education.

“It’s not only Carleton and York where these issues have come to a head,” she said, referring to a recently resolved strike at the Ottawa school.

“Western graduate teaching assistants may soon be on strike and other universities may follow. Ultimately, as we know, it is students who are most affected by these labour disputes.”

PC Education Critic Lorne Coe said the record-breaking five-week college strike last fall — only resolved after back-to-work legislation was introduced — showed how the government is lacking in leadership on the issue. He urged the government to “act now to save the semester.”

CUPE 3903 bargaining team member Lina Nasr said the university needs to come to to the table instead of calling on the union to agree to let an arbitrator settle the issues.

“Carleton University resolved their dispute because the parties agreed to sit down at a table and work through what were very significant differences. If Carleton can do this, so can York,” said CUPE President Fred Hahn.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

York said it has had numerous bargaining dates with CUPE since last September, and one since the strike began.

The university already has the best pay and offers the best benefits in the province for the assistants and contract faculty, it says, and has called union demands unreasonable.