Talks continue ahead of strike deadline for education workers at Carleton University
Talks continue ahead of strike deadline for education workers at Carleton University
Contract talks continued Sunday evening to avert a potential strike by 3,000 graduate and undergraduate teaching assistants and contract instructors at Carleton University.
CUPE Local 4600 says its members will go on strike Monday morning if a new contract is not reached with 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."
CUPE Local 4600 president Noreen Cauley-Le Fevre told CTV News Ottawa on Sunday the "major things that are on the table" still are wages for contract instructors and graduate assistants. Cauley-Le Fevre said the two sides remained at the bargaining table as of 10:45 p.m.
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 said 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."
Carleton University has said the campus will remain open for students, faculty, staff and members of the public in the event of a strike, but some classes, labs and tutorials may be cancelled. The university has released a list of classes that will be "disrupted" by a labour strike.
Carleton and the union have been in contract talks since August 2022.
On Friday, Carleton released its latest offer to Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants, some Research Assistants, and Service Assistants), and Unit 2 (Contract Instructors).
The offer to Unit 2 includes a salary market adjustment of 4.5 per cent retroactive to September 1, an increase to the base minimum stipend of 2 per cent retroactive to January 1, 2023, and an increase of 3 per cent in September 2023 and September 2024.
The offer to Unit 1 includes a salary increase of 3 per cent retroactive to Sept. 1, 2022 and a 2.5 per cent increase in 2023 and 2024.
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.
"I'm a little concerned in terms of class work, but I completely understand the position that the contract professors and TAs are coming from," student Shaye Yawlak said.
Cauley-Le Fevre says the goal of the bargaining team is to "secure a deal" at the table, and hopes the university will offer a deal that meets its members "bottom line".
"We don't take this lightly, that's why we keep showing up at the table," Cauley-Le Fevre said, adding all members care about the quality of education at Carleton University.
OC Transpo
Carleton University says in the event of a strike, there will be no OC Transpo service on campus.
"OC Transpo will not cross the picket line to enter campus," Carleton said in an update on its website.
"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."
The federal government will be providing $1.5 million to Pride organizations across the country for increased security measures at parades and other events this year, CTV News has learned.
Paul Bernardo should be returned to a maximum-security prison, the lawyer representing the families of his young murder victims said as he called on the Correctional Service of Canada to be more transparent about what led to his transfer to a medium-security facility in the first place.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to provide an update on the wildfires that have forced thousands of people from their homes and caused widespread property damage in several provinces.
Newly released documents say the intelligence community's relationship with its key watchdog has been particularly strained over the last year due to a 'level of resistance' to scrutiny.
Special teams played a difference on Sunday night as the United States scored two short-handed goals en route to a 6-1 victory over Canada in the World Para Hockey Championship gold-medal game.
A wildfire that tore through homes and businesses in the Halifax area is 100 per cent contained, but a historic fire in southwestern Nova Scotia remains out of control.
The Nova Scotia government says it is investigating the theft of personal information stolen through a global privacy breach to a third-party file transfer system the province was using.
Paul Bernardo should be returned to a maximum-security prison, the lawyer representing the families of his young murder victims said as he called on the Correctional Service of Canada to be more transparent about what led to his transfer to a medium-security facility in the first place.
Paul Bernardo should be returned to a maximum-security prison, the lawyer representing the families of his young murder victims said as he called on the Correctional Service of Canada to be more transparent about what led to his transfer to a medium-security facility in the first place.
Air quality remains a concern in regions throughout Quebec, including the Greater Montreal area which is currently under a smog warning. Environment and Climate Change Canada issued smog warnings for the Greater Montreal Area, and special air quality statements are in effect for large portions of the province due to the growing number of forest fires.
The Montreal Canadiens announced Monday that the Habs agreed on terms to an 8-year contract extension with forward Cole Caufield that will pay him an average annual salary of $7.85 million.
Quebec provincial police (SQ) have identified the adult victim of a fishing incident that claimed five lives over the weekend, most of them children. Keven Girard, 37, was among a group of 11 people swept up by the tide late Friday night while fishing along the shore in Portneuf-sur-Mer, a village about 550 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
A wayward and unresponsive business plane that flew over the nation's capital Sunday afternoon caused the military to scramble a fighter jet before the plane crashed in Virginia, officials said. The fighter jet caused a loud sonic boom that was heard across the capital region.
A much more seasonal week, temperature wise, is on the way for the London area. The sunshine remains but temperatures will drop a few degrees to between 20 C and 24 C — the normal for this time of year being around 24 C.
A public meeting will give Calgarians an inside look into the exact details of an agreement in principle that could land the city a new event centre, but critics are already skeptical of the cost breakdown.
The Nature Conservancy of Canada has announced a plan to protect iconic Prairie grasslands, considered one of the most endangered and least protected ecosystems in the country.
After a long hockey season, most kids are done with the cold rinks by spring. But for the chance to rub shoulders with a locally grown hockey superstar, you dust off the gear and skate in June.
At the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention in February, reeves passed a resolution asking the Water Security Agency to require those who are illegally draining to remediate their unapproved works.
The federal government will be providing $1.5 million to Pride organizations across the country for increased security measures at parades and other events this year, CTV News has learned.
People who use drugs and advocates are vocalizing their support of a downtown overdose prevention site in response to some residents — and a prominent developer — who no longer want it in their backyard.
At the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities convention in February, reeves passed a resolution asking the Water Security Agency to require those who are illegally draining to remediate their unapproved works.
