York University students are expected to be back in class on Monday after the Ontario legislature passed back-to-work legislation ending a 12-week-old strike on Thursday. (Lorenda Reddekopp/CBC)

The Ontario legislature passed back-to-work legislation Thursday, ending the 12-week strike at York University.

All 50,000 York students should be back in class on Monday. About 5,000 students already returned to class earlier this week.

The bill passed by a vote of 61 to eight — with only the NDP members of the legislature voting against it.

About 100 strikers marched outside the legislature, while politicians inside were passing the bill.

Spokesperson Tyler Shipley said the union is angry the government of Premier Dalton McGuinty has taken away their collective bargaining rights.

"This has sent the message to all employers across Ontario that if they don't feel like bargaining, Queen's Park will step in and bail them out," he said.

But McGuinty denied it was a challenge to collective bargaining in the province, saying the legislation was meant to end an impasse.

"This isn't about taking sides. This is about getting 50,000 students back to school," he said.

CUPE 3903, the union that represents the teaching and graduate assistants and contract faculty who spent more than 80 days on the picket line, says the conflict is not over and the issues that fuelled the dispute will spread far beyond York.

The president of the York University Federation of Students, Hamid Osman, agrees.

"The University of Toronto has a strike vote," said Osman. "Carleton had one. Ryerson had one. This is not only an issue at York."

Union dropped threat to go to court

Osman blames the Liberal government for underfunding universities. But McGuinty said he's done more for colleges and universities than any Ontario government in decades.

On Wednesday, the union backed off its threat to challenge the back-to-work legislation in court and said it won't stop teachers from returning to class.

Union officials said the students have already paid a heavy a price for the strike so they decided not to fight the legislation in court.

Union members went on strike Nov. 6 over improved job security for contract staff, among several other issues. The school immediately suspended most academic activities, keeping about 50,000 students out of class.

CUPE 3903 represents about 3,400 teaching, graduate and research assistants and contract professors divided between three units. All units voted against a York offer.

The government bill calls for the two sides to appoint a mediator within five days of the legislation passing, or the government will select one.

The bill instructs the mediator to consider the current economic environment in Toronto and the province, what kind of cuts York could have to make, and salaries at other institutions before making a binding decision.

Workers who continue to strike or employers who bar staff from work after the legislation is passed could face fines of up to $2,000 a day.

With files from the Canadian Press