Carleton University education workers on strike
About 3,000 education workers at Carleton University will strike on Monday after the union and the university failed to come to an agreement by the midnight deadline.
"The bargaining teams for Carleton and CUPE 4600 ... met throughout the weekend but were unable to reach tentative agreements," the university said in a statement. "As a result, the union has chosen to implement its strike."
CUPE Local 4600 represents about 3,000 graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants and contract instructors at the university.
In an update Sunday evening, Carleton said bargaining teams for the university and CUPE 4600 have been "negotiating all weekend and are still at the table working towards fairly negotiated collective agreements."
However, the two sides were unable to reach agreement on a new contract.
CUPE 4600 President Noreen Cauley-Le Fevre tweeted at 1:40 a.m. that members should check their email.
"We march at dawn. #StrikeToWin," she said.
The university says it remains open and students are expected to attend classes if they are being held, but some classes, labs and tutorials may be cancelled. The university has released a list of classes that will be "disrupted" by the strike.
The union has said its members are looking for wages that will "help catch up the more than 10 per cent they have lost to inflation over the last decade", and want to bring salaries for contract instructors closer to what University of Ottawa contract instructors earn.
"Contract instructors at Carleton earn 15 per cent less than the contract instructors at the University of Ottawa, who are doing the same work, in the same city, with the same cost of living – so salary is a big thing," Cauley-Le Fevre told CTV News on Sunday.
"On campus, graduate students make up about seven per cent of the student population and we make up 80 per cent of the food bank usage. So teaching assistants, both units, have been hit by the rising cost of inflation.
"We're being hit really hard … so we need our wage increases."
The threat of a strike comes three weeks before the end of classes for the winter term and the start of exams. Exams are set to begin on April 15.
Carleton and the union have been in contract talks since August 2022.
OC Transpo won't cross picket line
Carleton University says there will be no OC Transpo service on campus due to the strike.
"OC Transpo will not cross the picket line to enter campus," Carleton said in an update on its website over the weekend.
"Service will operate as usual, but pick up and drop off will be at the corner of Sunnyside and Bronson Avenue."
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 279 President Clint Crabtree tells CTV News Ottawa the labour movement needs to "stick together."
- with files from Josh Pringle and Shaun Vardon, CTV News Ottawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Meta will test blocking news on Instagram, Facebook for some Canadians
Meta is planning to run a test that will block news for some Canadian users on Facebook and Instagram in response to the Liberal government's controversial online news bill.

Experts warn of 'rapid' growth of IBD as number of Canadians diagnosed set to reach 470K by 2035
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada
Hidden camera discovered in washroom at Gatineau, Que. elementary school
Gatineau police say officers responded to a call from staff at l’école l'Oiseau Bleu on Nelligan Street just after 10 a.m. Friday about a camera found in the washroom.
New non-invasive tool detects early stages of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's
Researchers at Carleton University's Department of Electronics in Ottawa created a ground-breaking testing device to detect early signs of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s through biomolecular activities in a person’s saliva.
Jordan's royal wedding gets underway in ceremony packed with stars and deep symbolism
The wedding of Jordan's crown prince to the scion of a prominent Saudi family began on Thursday in a palace celebration that drew massive crowds and a mood of excitement around the kingdom, while presenting the young Hashemite royal as a new player on the global stage.
'Tone-deaf': Singh slams rapporteur Johnston for not stepping down
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh slammed foreign interference special rapporteur David Johnston's refusal to heed the House of Commons' call for him to step down as 'tone-deaf.'
Despite munchies, frequent cannabis users are leaner and less likely to get diabetes: study
Despite the 'munchies' being a common cannabis effect, frequent users are leaner and less likely to develop diabetes than people who don't use the drug. According to a new study, cannabis use in teenage years may alter how the body's fat cells work.
Man accused of threatening to shoot Toronto mayoral candidates arrested
A man who allegedly threatened to shoot mayoral candidates that led to the cancellation of Thursday’s debate has been arrested.
Collapsed platform in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar last repaired a decade ago: city
The elevated walkway in Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar that collapsed during a school field trip, sending 16 children and one adult to hospital, was last repaired a decade ago.