[4] The Union went on strike due to a variety of institutional grievances, including job security for contract professors, elimination of the Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct, creation of whistleblower protection, and fund indexation.

On January 24, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty announced a rare Sunday recall of the provincial legislature in order to pass back-to-work legislation mandating an immediate end to the strike.

[5] On January 29, the York University Labour Disputes Resolution Act was passed in the provincial parliament on a count of 42–8 ending the strike.

A strike beginning on November 6, 2008[10] concerned a variety of institutional grievances, including job security for contract professors, elimination of the Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct, creation of whistleblower protection, and fund indexation.

On January 24, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty announced a rare Sunday recall of the provincial legislature in order to pass back-to-work legislation mandating an immediate end to the strike.

The union's aim was to, in their words, "secure a fair collective agreement that, among other things, protected quality education and creates a less precarious working environment in Ontario's university sector.

In the renewal collective bargaining agreement, covering 2023 through 2026, the union hoped to win wage increases matching record inflation.

Rather than further appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, the Ford government instead decided to repeal the law in its entirety, allowing CUPE 3903 and other public sector unions in Ontario to negotiate for retroactive wage increases for the three years that Bill 124 was in effect.