The Moment
Strikeout
The never-ending York University strike By Chris Nuttall-Smith
Image credit: Pawel Dwulit/Toronto Star
Come summertime, most of us will have long forgotten the particulars of the York strike, a dispute that pitted contract faculty and teaching assistants against the university brass, and drew classes to a halt for months on end, while impassioned picketers dug in their winter boot–clad heels. The only people still lamenting the job action will be the students and staff forced to stay in school while their equivalents at Ryerson and U of T enjoy a sun-soaked break. Which is not to say the debacle was inconsequential. York’s reputation (deserved or not)—for everything from low academic standards to non-stop protests to, well, protracted teacher strikes—was already on life-support. This, its third extended walkout in a dozen years, pretty much pulled the plug. University enrolment has been known to spike during recessions, but York’s numbers have already slumped by 15 per cent for fall 2009. Those classrooms and study halls that were pin-drop quiet for the duration of the strike may still suffer from empty-desk syndrome long after the ink dries on the new deal.
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