NBPA, Raptors donate $10K to striking support workers at B.C. university

Striking support workers at Simon Fraser University i Burnaby, B.C. walk the picket line. Image credit: bargaining.tssu.ca.

The National Basketball Players Association and its members on the Toronto Raptors are donating $10,000 to fund striking support workers at Simon Fraser University.

NBPA vice-president and Raptors guard Garrett Temple said in a statement that the donation to the Simon Fraser's Teaching Support Staff Union's strike fund is to help workers in “their fight of a fair contract.”

The NBPA's statement came hours before the Raptors held an open practice at SFU's Burnaby campus Friday evening as part of the team's Vancouver-area training camp in preparation for the upcoming NBA season.

TSSU started its strike action one week ago.

The union's demands include a cost of living increase that keeps pace with inflation and a modernized compensation model that takes larger class sizes and additional administrative duties into account.

SFU says it has offered the maximum wage increases provided under the B.C. government's Shared Recovery Mandate, which applies to all public sector employers with unionized employees. As of March, the mandate called for a 5.5 per cent general wage increase, plus a potential cost of living adjustment to a maximum of 6.75 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 6, 2023.