Several classes cancelled due to University of Windsor strike

Some university faculty members refuse to cross CUPE picket line

Some faculty members are refusing to cross the picket lines being manned by striking members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) at the University of Windsor.

Brian E. Brown, president of the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA), told CBC News some classes are being cancelled as a result of faculty members’ refusal to cross the picket line. WUFA said students will not be penalized for cancelled classes.

About 300 members of CUPE Local 1393 went on strike after discussions between administrators and workers broke down at midnight on Sept. 8.

“I hope the strike is as short as possible. We hate impacting the students. It’s not something I want to happen,” Dean Roy, president of CUPE Local 1393, said to CBC. “The big issues are job security… and the pay-equity system. The issue was not money in the least. It was really those two things.”

Local 1393 represents skilled trades and professional staff, including plumbers, carpenters, electricians and database administrators, and the CUPE workers have been without a contract since April. The union said it will request further meetings with the university through a provincially-appointed mediator.

Some events at the university’s upcoming 50th anniversary celebrations have been cancelled as a result of the strike and university services, including the Student Advising Centre, the Aboriginal Education Centre, and the Educational Development Centre are also being affected by the strike.

University president Alan Wildeman told CBC News he’s disappointed.

“They’ve walked away from greater job security, a wage increase and a commitment to maintain employment, not to start outsourcing all their jobs,” Wildeman said. “So they’re on the street and we’ll look forward to the opportunity to get our employees back to work someday.”

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