TORONTO — A strike that has halted classes for 50,000 students at York University is raising questions about who is speaking out for the interests of undergraduates at the country's third-largest campus.

A group of students, organizing under the banner York Not Hostage, is planning a rally next week to make sure their interests are recognized in the labour dispute that shows no signs of ending. The group, which has been gathering hundreds of members on Facebook, says student leaders did not consult adequately with undergraduates before supporting striking teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants.

"We are holding the rally because we have lost our voice," said Catherine Divaris, a kinesiology major in her final year, and one of the organizers of the event planned for Monday. "We just want to go back to school and finish our education."

Ms. Divaris said the group is concerned that no negotiations have taken place since the strike began last Thursday and is calling on the strikers - members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees - to accept the administration's offer of binding arbitration. Failing that, it is calling on the province to enact back-to-work legislation.

As of late yesterday, the York University Anti-Strike group on Facebook had about 900 members.

Ms. Divaris said students are fearful that this dispute will be lengthy, like a strike eight years ago by the same group. "We are all really frustrated. We all know what happened in 2000-2001 - 11 weeks. We don't want that again. It just seems to us that neither side is taking it seriously and we just want to force an end to it."

Hamid Osman, president of the York Federation of Students, said criticism being levelled at his group for taking sides in the dispute is unfair. Mr. Osman said the federation supports the union's efforts to get better wages and job security and, like all parties involved, would like to see an end to the strike.

Subha Arulvarathan, editor of student paper The Excalibur, said she too has heard from many students who feel their interests are not being represented. In a recent editorial, the paper expressed the same concerns.

CUPE Ontario has worked closely with York student leaders and other members of the Canadian Federation of Students on its tuition campaign in Ontario.

Yesterday, at a lunch time rally by striking workers, several groups from the York campus, including undergraduate and graduate student leaders, voiced support for union demands and called for a return to the bargaining table.

The university has offered the group a 9.25-per-cent increase over three years; the local is asking for 11 per cent over two years.

Nadia Habib, who has taught on contract for a decade, said that while wage demands have made headlines, what is not being discussed is the university's efforts to take away full-time job opportunities for long-time employees such as herself. "That's what's missing from the conversation," she said.