The picket lines have come down at Western after the university's roughly 2,000 graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) ratified a new agreement.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, Local 610, which represents GTAs at the post secondary institution, announced on Monday an "overwhelming majority of the membership" voted in favour of the new deal. The voting took place on Friday and Saturday, just days after the agreement was reached with Western.
"After two days of intense negotiations, our bargaining team was successful in making improvements to Western’s last offer, securing an agreement that improves the working conditions for GTAs at Western,” said Pardis Baha, the president of PSAC Local 610. “Most importantly, we were able to negotiate protections for our members from any claw-backs to GTA funding.”
Baha said the new contract, which will be in place until August 31, 2027, provides an overall wage increase of 10.92 per cent over the 4-year period that is retroactive back to January 1. It also increases sick leave and provides greater transparency on the initial funding package to GTAs.
The teaching assistants hit the picket line on April 11, calling for higher pay. The job action slowed traffic at all entrances to the campus and created issues for students writing exams as GTAs are responsible for proctoring and marking the end of year papers.
The new deal was reached last Thursday, but the picket lines remained until the deal was ratified.