Students at North Vancouver's Capilano University return to campus after strike halted courses

A strike at Capilano University in North Vancouver continues, but students are heading back to campus after job action suspended classes for three weeks.

About 350 support workers at the university's three campuses have been off the job since June 6. The Capilano Faculty Association, which represents teaching staff, also refused to cross the picket line in solidarity.

But classes resumed Thursday after MoveUP, which represents the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 378, said it has authorized a "picket pass" for faculty and students, allowing them to return to work and classes.

Up until then, classes, activities, and events on campus, including campus tours, were suspended. Students were allowed tocontinue working on course assignments, readings, and materials on their own time, but theuniversity had said course instructors were not available to meet with students.

Education disrupted

Amy Illes, who's in a two-year rehabilitation therapy assistant program, is frustrated about the disruption to her education.

She says she is supposed to get a week's break before starting apracticum on July 17, but now she says her instructors will take that week to catch up on the course content missed in the last three weeks.

"I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to do all of that work. And that's something that's quite anxiety-inducing for me," she told CBC News.

Illessaid she had a trip planned for that week off and bought non-refundable flights.

"I would love to finish the course and not have to retake it," she said. "I'm hoping that I can find a way todo work at home while I'm gone. I'm not really sure what's happening, and it's causing me a lot of stress."

Illes is due to graduate in December but worries her graduation may be delayed if her coursework isn't completed in time.

Before classes resumed, hundreds of students signed a petition calling on the university to get back to bargaining.

"Students are feeling stressed, confused, and overwhelmed," the petition said.

Capilano University did not respond to CBC's request for comment by deadline.

Mediation ongoing

MoveUPsaid on its website it has entered the mediation process with the school "with the intent of reaching a tentative agreement and concluding the strike."

The main sticking point is that workers want to have remote work language included in the collective agreement, according to the union.

In a statement from early June, the university said the two sides met in May with a Labour Relations Board mediator and presented a revised settlement offer that included wage increases of 12 to 13 per cent over three years ending June 30, 2025.

It said MoveUP rejected the offer over the issue of remote work.

Support workers will continue to picket the university's North Vancouver and Sunshine Coast campuses.