Signs reading, “One Job Should be Enough,” are being held high out on the streets outside Western University, including at the main gates on Richmond St., where workers have been picketing for up to 12 hours a day since Aug. 30.

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) representing caretakers, landscape services, and trades workers at Western University began striking just days before the beginning of the fall semester. Citing low wages and high workloads, the union said it has been faced with many staffing shortages. The goal of the strike is to pressure the university to go back to the table and negotiate a fair contract for CUPE employees.

According to CUPE, Fanshawe College is currently paying its caretakers upwards of $5 an hour more than Western, and tradespeople almost $7 an hour more. The union said CUPE employees have been sacrificing anywhere from $400-$560 a paycheque. With the average cost of housing going up over the past couple of years and with grocery bills skyrocketing, CUPE employees are finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Because of this, more than half of CUPE workers have second jobs, according to the union. Due to these conditions, they’ve said a third of workers are seeking new jobs, which is further affecting the staffing shortage.

“We are constantly hiring temporary full-time people to try and fill gaps,” said Chris Yates, Vice President of CUPE Local 2361. “We just need more people, and we’re not paid in a competitive way to get those people and keep them.”

As Western’s enrollment numbers have continued to increase, so have the workloads. With this, more employees are needed to help alleviate the workload. However, the union said that due to the dated outline, the university remains understaffed.

“The university will try and tell you that they have as many workers as they’re supposed to, but they don’t. The funding model they use to try and determine how many people we need is 20 years old and the student population has gone up however much throughout the years,” said Yates.

According to Western University’s website, the school is open as usual and all activities regarding move-in week will continue.