On November 17, 2008, hundreds of university students and workers from across southern Ontario rallied at Main Gate in support of striking CUPE 3903 members. “We know what happens on this campus will impact what happens on other campuses,” says one Ryerson student representative. A York undergrad declares, “we’re going to keep coming to the lines, every day of this struggle, for as long as it takes!”
This video captures a few of the messages of solidarity voiced at the November 12th rally. Among those who spoke at the rally were representatives from: CUPE Ontario, Toronto Area CUPE Council, Toronto York Regional Labour Council, Ontario Federation of Labour, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Canadian Auto Workers, and CUPE National.
This video captures some of the words of support from CUPE Ontario and CUPE National that were spoken at the November 12 Solidarity Rally. A York University press release from 1997 is also read. This press release outlines the reasons why the university previously deemed binding arbitration to be both problematic and inappropriate for labour negotiations within the university sector.
A message of solidarity from Youngblood of Six Nations: “we are all in this struggle together, the more we keep these alliances and networks open, the more we can accomplish as one!”
This is a blog set up to share videos about the strike. The site is maintained by the video sub-committee of the CUPE 3903 Communications Committee. We welcome new members, and also would love to receive any links to videos of the strike that you have shot and uploaded to the internet. You can contact us at cupestrikevideo@gmail.com.
