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
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
A fight to protect the dignity of Michelangelo's David raises questions about freedom of expression
Michelangelo's David has been a towering figure in Italian culture since its completion in 1504. But in the current era of the quick buck, curators worry the marble statue's religious and political significance is being diminished.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.