Government forces end to York U strike

TORONTO, Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The provincial government of Ontario voted Thursday to force an end to an 88-day strike by 3,300 faculty and aides at Toronto's York University.

The legislative vote sends the Canada's third-largest university and members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees to binding arbitration, the Toronto Sun reported.

In the Queen's Park legislature, 61 Liberals and Conservatives voted for the measure while all eight socialist New Democratic Party members voted against it, the Sun said.

The strike ended classes for some 55,000 students, although about 5,000 returned to classes this week when non-union faculty returned to the classrooms.

The union wanted higher wages and better job security for teaching assistants and part-time professors, but the university said it didn't have the money in 11 days of negotiations.

Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty sent a mediator to meet with both sides last week, but he reported back there was no hope for a negotiated settlement, the Sun said.

The university will resume full operation Monday, officials said.