Units 1, 2, and 3 of CUPE Local 3903, the union represented by teaching assistants, contract faculty, and graduate assistants, began striking on Monday, March 5, 2018; several months after their previous collective agreement expired on August 31, 2017. 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." The main issues of the strike revolved around job security and the path to permanent tenured employment for contract faculty. A forced ratification vote was held between April 6–9 and was rejected by an overwhelming majority by all three units.