Striking McMaster TAs heading back to work

Teaching and research assistants are going back to work after voting to accept a "best offer" contract from McMaster University.

Members of Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3906 voted 58 per cent in favour following two days of voting that ended last night.

The union -- representing 2,700 teaching and research assistants -- set up picket lines at the university's front gates last Monday. This followed a breakdown in talks between the two sides on Oct. 31.

The union did not say how many members voted for the two-year deal.

The university and some union members had been pushing for a ratification vote. Members had voted 199-91 not to send it to one.

In the end, the bargaining committee arranged the vote but urged members to reject the contract to encourage McMaster to put a better offer on the table.