Both sides behind one of the longest strikes at a Canadian university are negotiating again, one day after teaching staff turned down York University's latest offer.

The rejection bolstered the union's threat to keep the campus closed until its members get a better deal.

According to results released Friday night, 62 per cent of York's teaching staff who voted on the contract rejected the administration's latest deal.

Protest at York University

The university, which has been virtually shut down since the strike began Oct. 26, is now promising to offer students and staff help crossing the picket line if there's no settlement by next week.

The school wants classes to resume on Monday.

But union executives are vowing to bring in organized labour groups to keep the campus shut down.

Students want strike to end

"Make no mistake about it, that university will be closed down on Monday morning," said Sid Ryan of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

"We will have steel workers, and auto workers, and food workers, and other university workers, and CUPE members in the public sector outside this university's gates," he told a news conference. "We will not be beaten into the ground."

There are growing concerns that many of York University's 33,000 undergraduates could lose an entire semester of school.

Some disgruntled students are now threatening to sue if they're forced to spend part of their summer making up for missed classes. They want compensation for any extra living expenses and lost income.

Although a majority of contract staff voted to accept the university's proposal, they represent only one of three groups of striking workers.

The largest bargaining units – made up of 1,500 teaching assistants and graduate assistants – rejected the offer.

One of the key issues is whether graduate students who help teach classes should be guaranteed a full rebate on any tuition increases.

The university has promised to try to keep increases under two per cent over the next four years, but it argues that giving a select group of students different tuition fees would be unfair.

Union executives never wanted the latest offer put to a vote in the first place. But the government agreed to the university's request to order the 2,100 strikers to cast ballots.