University of Toronto students stage sit-in at the Scarborough Campus demanding a tuition fee refund, end to the strike

TORONTO, March 19, 2015 /CNW/ - University of Toronto Scarborough students are gathering in the Arts and Administration Building of the Scarborough Campus to protest the unlivable wages and unfair treatment of striking teaching assistants and course instructors. While both domestic and international students pay increasingly higher tuition fees, the administration has chosen to run the university like a business rather than a public institution.                                          `            

"The University of Toronto has ensured wage increases for administrators, most of whom make well over $200,000," said Tahsin Chowdhury, President of the Scarborough Campus Students' Union. "Combined with the university's investments in weapons manufacturers and fossil fuels, as well as the refusal to pay a decent wage to our teachers, I have to question whether or not this is a school or a corporation."

The students are demanding a tuition fee refund for canceled classes, tutorials and labs. They are also protesting in solidarity with their teaching assistants, who are paid well below the poverty line at $15,000 a year.

"International students are now paying five times the tuition fees as domestic students for cancelled classes and tutorials and graduating students are unsure whether or not they will be convocating. " continued Chowdhury. "The university must do the right thing and offer our teachers a living wage to ensure fairness for undergraduate students and the people who teach them."

The Scarborough Campus Students' Union represents 11,000 students at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus.

SOURCE Scarborough Campus Students' Union

Tahsin Chowdhury, President, [email protected], 416-287-7045; Sabrine Azraq, Vice-President Equity, [email protected], 416-287-7046