Luke Miles | Contributor
Featured image: Students have agreed not to strike if their demands, including meal cards and a lighter assignment load, are met. | Basma Elbahnasawy
On March 1, a group of 10,000 undergraduate students on a York Facebook group agreed they would go on strike.
“We’re just really tired,” one student, who has chosen to remain anonymous so his parents can’t scold him for his laziness, commented on the discussion board. “We just want a break. We figure if enough of us decide not to show up, there isn’t much anyone can do.”
The students agree 10,000 isn’t a huge chunk of the student body, considering York is home to over 50,000 undergraduates, but they agree their lack of presence will be felt and noticed.
“We will have an impact,” wrote Katy Smith, an English undergraduate, in the “Will Anyone Listen to Us?” group chat.
“Someone will notice we’re gone. I’m sure someone on the staff cares about student welfare. They must. Surely. They’ll ask where we went.”
“They’ll be wasting a lot of their own money,” says Economics Professor William B. Bilingstrom, when asked to comment on the upcoming student strike.
“As a professor and economist, I’m highly concerned about student finances. I don’t want anyone’s money going to waste.
“I’m also worried about the global economy as a whole. Where would the world be if students decide to delay their futures? The job market is looking to take students fresh from school, but what will the job market do if there are no students?”
When questioned, students planning to strike did express concern about their finances. A panel of undergraduates came together to discuss solutions to this problem, and came to the conclusion that if professors truly cared about student welfare and finances, they would just refund striking students.
“Just pay us back whatever we’ve lost,” Smith wrote. “And give us meal cards too. We’re starving. Oh, please, please, feed us. I haven’t eaten in three days.”
The strike is expected to commence in mid-September of the following school year. Staff are well aware of the planned strike, but they seem unconcerned, as students have pointed out in various group-chats.
“I don’t think they’ll stop us,” says Engineering student G. Pete Aye. “It’s almost like they want the strike to happen. They’re making no efforts to hear us out.”
Students collectively decided they wouldn’t strike if a few conditions were met. “We want meal cards,” Aye says after an on-campus student meeting where the strike was discussed. “We’re not even asking for much, just $50 a month. We find, as students, meeting daily needs is so difficult.
“School costs thousands per semester; commuting to lectures is expensive too. A lot of us can’t keep up with jobs. We need all the help we can get. If someone paid for our food, that would be really helpful.”
“We’d also ask for less demanding assignment schedules,” says Smith. “I don’t like how I have to pay to do work—usually, it’s the opposite. I would even take minimum wage. I think, if we’re not going to be paid for this, we shouldn’t have to do as much work.”
Students are looking forward to the strike, but they wouldn’t complain if staff intervened and gave them a reason to stay. Several students agreed they would be happy if York staff paid attention to their pleas for negotiation.
