Last week, students across U of T’s campuses mobilized to put pressure on the administration as the strike entered its third week.
CUPE 3902’s Unit 1 has been on strike since March 2. In response to the number of classes, labs, and tutorials affected by the strike, UTSU organized a student rally on Wednesday.
Thousands of students protested at noon in front of Simcoe Hall at U of T. Faculty from the Department of Political Science also joined the picket lines at Sydney Smith Hall.
Meanwhile at UTM, thinking that the “message would be much stronger if [UTM] joined in as well”, first-year English student and UTMSU commission member Michael Valdez organized a march with UTMSU that took place at the same time as the one at St. George.
Around 150 students met in Davis and marched around campus before returning to the building, intending to sit inside UTM principal Deep Saini’s office in protest. After around an hour of waiting, Saini entered the hall and sat down with the students.
In an interview with The Medium, Valdez said he found Saini’s answers “ambiguous” and felt that “[students] are still being kept in the dark”.
On Thursday, the Scarborough Campus Students’ Union organized a sit-in in front of the Registrar’s Office to continue their call to end the strike.
UTMSU has also released a complaint form for students to who have been affected by the disruptions resulting from the strike.