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There’s a calm before the storm this morning, as observers wait to see the results of the session of the Ontario provincial legislature scheduled for one o’clock this afternoon.
The legislature is expected to take up back-to-work legislation aimed at ending the 81-day York University strike. The two largest parties in the legislature are on record in support of the bill, but with the New Democratic Party opposed, it is likely to be days, perhaps weeks, before any legislation takes effect.
Higher education writer Joey Coleman argues this morning that a brief delay is a good thing, as it will give the union, CUPE local 3903, one last chance to strike a deal and avoid binding arbitration. He’s hoping to see NDP agree to let the law be enacted on Wednesday if the union doesn’t approve a deal on Tuesday.
The Toronto Star is reporting that if the bill does pass on Wednesday, classes will not resume at York until Monday, February 2.
Meanwhile, the text of the bill has been posted on several blogs. It would impose fines of $2000 a day against individuals who continue to strike in the face of the back-to-work order.
2:20 pm Update: As expected, the eight NDP members of the provincial legislature voted against the back-to-work bill. The Star is now reporting that a final vote is “likely later this week or early next week.”
2:35 pm Update: As the York Strike 2008 blog points out, union spokesperson Tyler Shipley is quoted in the Star as saying that CUPE is looking into challenging the back-to-work order in the courts.
2:40 pm Update: More from the Star — applications to York for the fall semester, previously reported to be down 15%, are now said to have slipped 26% in the faculty of arts, York’s liberal arts division, and by as much as 40% in some graduate programs. The university is anticipating that the decline in admissions will lead to decreased enrollment, and consequently to faculty cutbacks.
Nearly a thousand students and others gathered at a Thursday meeting of the Arizona board of regents on Thursday to protest planned budget cuts to the state’s public universities.
The proposal, announced in the legislature the previous week, would slash $600 million in funding, imposing cuts ranging from 4% to 12% on universities’ budgets.
The Associated Students of the University of Arizona (ASUA) and the Arizona Student Association (ASA) are planning a trip to the state’s capitol in Phoenix this Wednesday, January 28, to protest the cuts directly at the state legislature. Details on the protest can be found at the ASA website.
A bit over a week ago we brought you news of a sit-in at the London School of Economics protesting the Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
Since then, the LSE sit-in has ended in a qualified victory for the student protesters, and more than a dozen other sit-ins have begun in Britain around the Gaza issue.
The LSE protesters have set up a blog that they’re using to get out word about the other student protests going on, and it’s being updated several times a day.
The York University strike appears to be nearing an end, but the timing of any resolution remains unclear.
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will recall the provincial legislature to session at one o’clock tomorrow afternoon to take up back-to-work legislation aimed at ending the York University strike.
In a statement this morning, McGuinty said he had been advised by the strike mediator “that there is no reasonable prospect of a negotiated settlement between York University and CUPE Local 3903.” He is asking the legislature for unanimous consent to the measure, and is hoping to have classes resume “this week.”
2:14 pm Update: News outlets are reporting that if the legislature unanimously approves the bill tomorrow, classes could resume as soon as Monday. If any legislators vote against it, passage could take as much as two weeks.
3:05 pm Update: Initial responses to McGuinty’s action from York and CUPE are online.
3:08 pm Update: The Globe and Mail is reporting that the New Democratic Party will not agree to unanimous consent to the back-to-work legislation, delaying passage until “at least Wednesday.”
January 24 Update: Our coverage continues here.
Ireland’s public universities have been tuition-free since the mid 1990s, and the country’s national student union is organizing to keep it that way.
More than two thousand students marched in an anti-fee protest in the city of Waterford on Wednesday, and the Union of Students in Ireland is predicting 30,000 will join a march in Dublin on February 4.
According to the USI, the planned fees could be as high as eight thousand Euros a year, the equivalent of more than $10,000.
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