The TA's refused an arbitrator, the school was in favor of it. Of course i'm gonna bash em'.

Get another job then! I'm serious, that's the way the world works. Their numbers and their problems are irrelevant compared to what they are doing to their peers. If they really wanted to end this then they should have opted for the arbitrator. I read up on this pretty well and honestly it was the only solution. I'm sure 100% the school would not yield because they know the TAs can not continue this sharade forever. Plus, they are setting an example that this tactic will not work and is only hurtful to the students, INCLUDING THEMSELVES!

The school president does not want to get involved, there are parents who are rallying up saying they won't let their child go there anymore, even amongst all this I'm 100% the school would not yield. There really had to be a third party settlement here.

I'm for the TAs Marmot, really, it's just I care more about the students like myself and many family & friends.

This is like the case of bully vs little guy again, hehe. TAs work really hard and they DO keep the school up and running at a minimal cost. With times like these though I can't see it ending pretty. The TAs are most likely going to settle for their last offer and might just be wasting their time. If they think they can accomplish something by continuing to strike then by all means they should go right ahead! I just don't want to hear any sob stories about how unfairly they are being treated because they are causing just as much hardship. This whole thing is just complicated I guess.

at least the canadian t.a. is allowed to strike.  In the U.S., the T.A. is not allowed to strike.  In fact it is illegal to strike if you are in the association.

Magical N, I linked google so people could see a range of sources and articles regarding the situation since there are too many and any particular one I linked could be biased.

the striking workers were correct in refusing an arbitrator. They've made their demands clear, the only purpose arbitration could serve would be to undermine them.

That's not entirely true, the arbitrator can review the TAs proposition and still validate it. You're right though, the act of consulting an arbitrator could very much have them regretting that they have done so in the first place. But to completely deny it is not the best option in my opinion. The TAs can plea their case on better grounding with a third party. As it stands, they are opting to deal with the party directly, and forcibly (by legally striking), and trying to make a difference on their own.

I'm not arguing that the strike is wrong, they have every right to strike since it's legal. However, the school took steps to solve the problem and cooperated with other resolution ideas. In the school's perspective, they are arguing that the TAs demands are unattainable at this particular moment in time (especially with the economy bloopers). York spends a shit load of money on construction and building modern facilities and I have personally seen where a lot of their money goes. They made them an offer in which they can "afford" and the TAs said that wasn't enough. Infact, during a few negotiations, the representative of the TAs just stormed out of the building. It's really annoying that meetings are either cancelled or abruptly ended before anything is even discussed. I hope the very best for the TAs but they are increasingly difficult and are not budging from their initial requests. They are not wrong for doing this as you guys said but I don't think they see that the school has no intention of giving them what they want.

Steel your 100% right in the fact that the TAs can strike. But I think you're severely down playing the affects this has on the students.

That's a pretty bad argument Negro. Obviously the strike HAS to effect the students to be considered a strike. I was refering to the jumbled up "Do this do that" solutions you came up with, it's not that simple for a lot of people. As for the arbitration, so what? If the arbitration is FOR the TAs then the school has to comply. It's a gamble but it's better then what they are doing now and it will swiftly end the situation.

As I've said, York TAs get the most money out of any school in Ontario. That means that York is setting the standard cap. They can't suddenly increase their wages because the other schools will ask for the very same. So each party is making a statement, which essentially means no one is going to budge.

I say bite the bullet and move on man, I've would have totally taken this offer. I would assume a middle ground decision would be made anyways.

Unions arn't always in the right. Somethings gotta give in this, and the school doesn't seem to want to give in something else to pay the TA's.

Especially since no school, no matter the size is allowed to close down, and all schools are being slowly taken over by the provinces. For instance there was an offer by the government to school boards, they get a piece of this pot thing and if they take it they have to keep their budget set to (?) years ago, and they can't increase it, if they didn't comply then they wouldn't get anything.