Teaching assistants at the University of Toronto could soon be following in the footsteps of their colleagues at York University -- marching on picket lines -- depending on the results of a strike vote that wraps up on Tuesday.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3902 represents about 5,000 TAs, student instructors, lab demonstrators, marker/graders and invigilators, and has been working without a contract since the end of April.

Angela Hildyard, the university's vice-president of human resources and equity, says the administration has been actively negotiating with the union, with more dates scheduled for later this month.

Hildyard says the school doesn't disclose details of contract talks while both sides remain at the table and the administration is committed to doing its best to avoid a strike.

"We will work with them to try to find a mutually acceptable agreement," she says.

According to union representative Rebecca Sanders, the administration made its most recent offer on Dec. 1, but the two sides still have a long way to go.

Sanders says the union would like a two-year contract with pay increases of 4 per cent each year, which she says directly related to the increased cost of living. She says they're also asking for:

  • Improved child care and maternity benefits
  • Caps on class sizes
  • More training for teaching assistants
  • Changes to their funding package structure amounting in less work-based funding and increased scholarship money

Even if the union's members support a strike, they wouldn't leave their posts until February at the earliest, says Sanders.

"We have been in bargaining with employer since July," she tells CP24.com. "We hope the strike vote leads to momentum at the bargaining table and helps them take our demands more seriously."

About 70,000 students attend the University of Toronto.

If a strike were to occur, it would be the second in as many months to hamper the studies of students.

York University's teaching assistants, members of CUPE Local 3903, have been on strike since Nov. 6, cancelling classes for nearly 50,000 students.