Exams underway as York University strike hits 7 weeks

York University students say they're feeling stressed — about exams, but also by the ongoing education workers strike and how it might impact future studies and whether they'll be credited or refunded for lost time.

Ziana Ali, a second-year political science student who told CBC Toronto all of her classes have been impacted, says she's "not optimistic."

"I feel like York has such a reputation for long strikes. I understand the cause but it's really affecting the students," Ali said. "I do not want to take an extra year of university. I'm really stressing about that."

More than 3,000 CUPE 3903 members are on strike. The affected members range from teaching assistants to graduate assistants and contract instructors, and the sticking point is wages.

The work action is in its seventh week now, as exams for those classes not impacted by the strike have begun. The exam period is scheduled until the last week of April.

"Over the last seven weeks, we have bent over backwards to secure a deal, including moving significantly on wages and monetary funds," CUPE 3903 communications officer Erin McIntosh said via email. "The employer, on the other hand, has barely budged and has refused to come back to the table for weeks at a time."

Teaching assistant Patrick Teed said the union has acted in good faith, but the university hasn't moved toward the union's request for a four to five per cent wage increase. Teed suggested the university is only offering an increase under one per cent.

"We're hoping the asymmetry of movement will be reconciled in this round of bargaining," he said.

Bargaining resumed this week. The university says it is working to end the strike and understands how it is impacting students and employees.

"York University remains focused on efforts that will get all students back to class and our CUPE 3903 represented employees back to work as soon as possible," the school said in a statement.

Impact on international students

York University has more than 10,000 international students, according to its website. That includes Arvin Nabaei, a first-year business student from Iran. 

Nabaei only arrived at the beginning of this winter semester to study. All three of the courses he's enrolled in have been suspended by the strike.

"I came to this country to study. It's so frustrating," he said. "They told us after the strike is over, there's going to be four weeks of classes and then the exams are going to happen."

International students pay an extra fee in order to study in Canada. The university's website says domestic international students studying a full business course load pay nearly $10,000 a year. For an international student in the same program, the tuition fee rises to around $36,000.

"They told us there's no refund," Nabaei said. "I have to keep the courses and wait until the strike is over."

The school says it is "in the process of assessing options" for students who are unable to resume their courses, but it won't say if students can receive partial credits for course work completed so far or refunds for time lost due to the strike.

New ways to pass the time

After seven weeks of either no classes or having all their classes moved from lecture halls to online, some students are choosing to channel their stress and frustration into fun.

"We're currently playing cards on a blanket," first-year theatre student Leila Tamim told CBC Toronto at the university's Keele Campus. "A lot of card playing, a lot of sleeping, a lot of just doing nothing."

Tamim and her friend and fellow first-year threat student, Lia Germansen, both say the strike means they aren't learning how they're meant to.

"A lot of what our classes would have provided is collaborative," Germansen said. "It's very in-person, active and hands-on versus an at home studying situation. It's been severely impacted."

They also say it reminds them of another time their education was affected.

"I was in Grade 9 when COVID started. It started in March and then the strike started this February," Tamim joked. "It feels like I just can't catch a break. Every first year of everything is just going to be half of the semester that doesn't count."