The union representing striking York University workers made a counter offer a day after Premier Dalton McGuinty brought in Reg Pearson, Ontario’s chief mediator, “to bang a few heads together” and resolve the 11-week impasse.
“We’ve made a comprehensive settlement offer,” Tyler Shipley, spokesperson for CUPE 3903, said Thursday night.
He would not go into specifics, but said, “Job security remains the key priority and so is the issue of funding for graduate students.”
These negotiations mark the fourth time the two sides are attempting to hammer out an agreement to end the strike that shut down campus on Nov. 6 when 3,400 teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants walked off the job.
Earlier in the day, Pearson, who shuttled between York University officials and the union representing its striking workers, said he was confident of a resolution.
“It’s really an early stage in terms of discussion with the folks here but I’m hopeful,” said Pearson. “I’m the eternal optimist.”
