The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

Join the CUPE 3903 victory march back to campus!

Victory march
Wednesday, April 1
11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Assemble at Main Gate
(York Boulevard & Keele Street)

All CUPE 3903 members and our wonderful campus allies are encouraged to join us. We will march from the Main Gate to Vari Hall, and return to campus together.

The Faculty Solidarity Chorus will perform a rousing rendition of “Solidarity Forever” in Vari Hall.

See you then!

The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

Almost 1,000 members of CUPE 3903 participated in the ratification vote on March 31, a turnout of 36.38 %.

Unit 1 voted 95.18 % to ratify the Employer’s latest offer, while Unit 3 voted 90.21 % to ratify. Both units will return to work on Wednesday, April 1. The strike is now over.

These are the official results of the vote:

Ballot question: 

“Do you accept this offer?”

Overall turnout: 

• Total eligible voters: 2,699
• Total votes cast: 982
• Voter turnout: 36.38 %

Unit 1 vote: 

• Yes: 750 (95.18 %)
• No: 37 (4.70 %)

Unit 1 turnout: 

• Total eligible voters: 1,872
• Total votes cast: 788 (1 spoiled)
• Voter turnout: 42.09 %

Unit 3 vote: 

• Yes: 175 (90.21 %)
• No: 16 (8.25 %)

Unit 3 turnout: 

• Total eligible voters: 827
• Total votes cast: 194 (3 spoiled)
• Voter turnout: 23.46 %

If there is any discrepancy between the numbers posted here and the numbers posted in the CUPE 3903 office, the latter shall prevail.

A CUPE 3903 bargaining ad on the side of a TTC bus

On Tuesday, March 31, CUPE 3903 members will vote on the tentative agreement made on Sunday, March 29, between the Employer and the Union’s Bargaining Team. Below are links to: 1) a summary of the changes; and 2) the actual language agreed upon by the two parties.

• 2015-03-30 Unit Summary
• Memorandum of Settlement for a Renewal Collective Agreement – Unit 1
• Memorandum of Settlement for a Renewal Collective Agreement – Unit 3

A silhouette of someone dropping a ballot into a ballot bo

Join and share on Facebook.

The next ratification vote will take place on Tuesday, March 31 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. near Keele campus at the Rexall Centre. The Rexall Centre is not legally part of the York University campus, so members will not have to cross picket lines to attend the ratification vote.

Doors will open at 1:30 p.m. During the meeting, the Bargaining Team will present the Employer’s latest offer and explain their recommendation of it.

The presentation will last for up to one hour, followed by another hour of discussion (2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.). Voting by secret ballot will open at the beginning of the meeting, and be available for two hours afterwards – for a total of four hours (2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.). Unit 1 and Unit 3 members will vote separately on each of their own offers.

Details of the latest offer for each of the two units will be available in print version at the meeting and may be read here:

• Employer’s proposed Memorandum of Settlement – Unit 1
• Employer’s proposed Memorandum of Settlement – Unit 3

The ratification meeting is governed by Article 13 (II) (c) of the bylaws. The overall ratification process is governed by Article 22 of the bylaws and the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

If members vote by a simple majority (by unit) to ratify the Terms of Settlement (the Employer’s offer), the strike will end and members will likely return to work on Wednesday, April 1. If members vote by a simple majority (by unit) to reject the Terms of Settlement, the strike will continue.

Members should note that the strike is still underway. There will be one picket line at Main Gate from 7:30-1:00 on Tuesday, March 31. Members should picket for 4 hours (within that time slot) to qualify for strike pay.

Further details about the meeting will be posted here and shared widely with the members as soon as they are confirmed.

For more information, please email CUPE3903chairperson@gmail.com.

Agenda:

1:30 p.m. Doors open

2:00 p.m. Presentation by the Bargaining Team of the Employer’s latest offer / voting begins

3:00 p.m. Discussion and questions for the Bargaining Team / voting continues

4:00 p.m. Call for scrutineers (12) / meeting ends / voting continues

6:00 p.m. Voting ends / counting of the ballots begins

The results of the vote will be announced as soon as all the ballots are counted.

Members are not obliged to attend the entire meeting in order to vote on the Employer’s latest offer, but we strongly encourage members to attend and listen to the bargaining report before voting, if possible. Members may vote anytime between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Please bring a piece of ID.

A FREE fully accessible shuttle bus will run from the Main Gate (York Boulevard and Keele Street) on the day of the ratification vote, starting at 1:30 p.m. and every 20 minutes until 6:30 p.m. (or until 30 minutes after the end of the meeting, if it runs later than 6:00 p.m.). The shuttle will drop off members at the west entrance to the Rexall Centre, in the rear parking lot. The shuttle will depart from the same location and return members to the Main Gate, starting at 1:50 p.m. and every 20 minutes until the meeting ends.

The Rexall Centre is owned by Tennis Canada and is not legally part of the York University campus; therefore, members will not be crossing picket lines in order to access the venue.

In terms of accessibility, the Rexall Centre is wheelchair accessible and immediately adjacent to the York University campus.

Find the Rexall Centre on this map.

Please contact Sheila Wilmot at CUPE3903.equity.officer@gmail.com or at 416-736-5154 ext. 3 if you require any of the following: ASL interpretation, reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care, and/or transportation costs for members who are unable to secure Wheel-Trans, or other requests for accommodation.

Members of CUPE 3903 join the picket line at the main gate of York University.

Latest update on strike pay (March 29)

CUPE 3903 is currently issuing cheques for all forms of strike pay for members, including supplementary cheques to cover any discrepancies in pay. Executive Committee members and a team of rank-and-file volunteers have been working all weekend to expedite processing of Strike Pay Discrepancy Forms (available here) and the release of cheques.

We hope that all remaining cheques will be issued by Wednesday morning – at the latest, if not sooner. As soon as the release date is confirmed, it will be posted to the website and announced over union email lists.

In addition, both the Executive Committee and a Special General Membership Meeting have passed motions that:

• Guarantee that all members who applied for alternate duty within the first ten days of the strike, but who did not receive a response with clear instructions, will be paid full strike pay by CUPE 3903 from the date of their request to the date they have been assigned alternate duty, after which they will be paid for the hours they perform;
• Guarantee that all members whose alternate duty tasks have been approved by CUPE 3903, regardless of whether CUPE National approves, will be paid their hours in full by CUPE 3903 for the duration of the strike.

If you have not yet collected your strike pay, or have noticed a discrepancy in your pay, please follow these directions to collect your cheque:

• If you requested alternate duty within the first ten days of the strike, but have not received a response with clear instructions, please do not re-send your request. These requests are currently being processed, and you will receive a response shortly, including instructions about how to collect your cheque.
• If you performed picket duty or alternate duty, but no cheque was issued in your name, complete the Strike Pay Discrepancy Form and email it to CUPE3903payinfo@gmail.com with “MISSING CHEQUE” in the subject line.
• If you received a cheque but noticed a discrepancy between your pay and what you should have been paid, complete the Strike Pay Discrepancy Form and email it to CUPE3903payinfo@gmail.com with “DISCREPANCY” in the subject line.
• If a cheque was issued in your name, and you would like it to be mailed to you, email your mailing address to CUPE3903payinfo@gmail.com with “MAIL CHEQUE” in the subject line.
• If a cheque was issued in your name, and you require a third party to collect it for you, the third party must present an original note with your signature on it that authorizes the release of your cheque.

We apologize for the delay in issuing cheques, and thank the members for their patience and support as we attempt to rectify the situation. We also thank all the rank-and-file volunteers who have spent countless hours this weekend helping to process members’ claims.

Unite the Fight march leaving Glendon campus on March 27

Starting on Monday, March 30, we will be adding an evening picket shift, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Depending on numbers, we will have a flying picket or one or two picket lines at Keele campus.

To help us plan, please indicate which evenings (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and/or Thursday) you are planning to join us this week.

Email your availability to 3903eveningpicket@gmail.com.

Members of CUPE 3903 and 3902 and their allies rally at Queen’s Park.

On March 19, CUPE 3903 clearly communicated to the Employer what the Union needed to settle negotiations: Tuition indexation for all members of Units 1 and 3, a modest minimum of funding for members of Unit 3, and the introduction of LGTBQ as an effective employment equity category.

On March 24, the Employer responded to CUPE 3903’s demands through the provincially-appointed mediator:

• They agreed to sit down with the union within six months to create a plan for the implementation of the new employment equity category.
• They put forward language that addresses some of our concerns around tuition indexation. This includes offsetting tuition increases for all incoming members of the Union at the same rate, rather than at different rates as determined by when someone begins studying at York.
• However, much to the disappointment of the Union, the Employer ignored the Union’s proposal to establish a $12,500 minimum funding guarantee for Unit 3 members.

These are moves in the right direction. At a Special General Membership Meeting on March 26, CUPE 3903 members reaffirmed what they need to bring an end to negotiations:

• Tuition indexation that reverses the Employer’s re-interpretation of what that principle means. Members need both domestic and international students’ tuition rates returned to the 2005 level, and also need assurances that all incoming students are protected from future hikes. The Employer has proposed leaving rates at the 2014 level, which leaves international students paying about $7,000 more than they were two years ago.
• A minimum of monetary support for those Master’s students who are most poorly funded.
• An accelerated implementation of a plan that meets our employment equity concerns.

As a consequence, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team met on Friday morning (March 27) to craft counter-proposals to our Employer’s last offer. These include:

1. Tuition indexation that accepts the framework of the Employer’s last offer, but with two important modifications: first, that all monies given to members to offset any future tuition increases will come in the form of funding, and not in the form of more work. Accepting offset monies in the form of work translates into working more for the same level of funding, which the Union cannot accept. Second, the base-year against which tuition raises are measured cannot be 2014, as suggested by the Employer, but must instead be 2012. This would ensure that the tuition hikes levied on International students would be reversed.
2. A minimum guarantee for Unit 3 of at least $12,500. Many Unit 3 members already make more than this, meaning the Employer should be able to implement this proposal at a relatively modest cost.
3. Sit down with the Union within three months, rather than six, to create a plan for the implementation of LGBTQ as an employment equity category.

Lastly, the Employer has proposed a back-to-work protocol that would see Units 1 and 3 receive only 92% of their pay. This neglects that members will still have to complete all of their duties when they return to work. It also neglects that there may be even more work to do, given the disarray that the Employer has created by attempting to re-open classes. As a consequence, the Union is demanding that members receive 100% of their pay, and that supervisors sit with Union members before work starts to determine how classes will move forward. The Union is also demanding that any interest levied on unpaid tuition during the strike be returned to our members.

The Union’s demands are more than reasonable, and are affordable within the context of the University’s operating budget of over $1 billion. Giving members tuition offsets that are indexed at 2012 levels would simply return money that, in the Union’s view, should have been returned already; adding LGBTQ to existing employment equity will cost nothing; offering Master’s students who are underfunded a higher minimum level of funding will cost little more than the salary now received by York’s president.

CUPE 3903 is confident that our Employer will recognize the legitimacy of these demands, and that members will be back to work in the very near future.

CUPE 3903 has released its sixth video, “CUPE 3903 & 3902 rally for accessible, high quality education”. Featuring striking education workers at York University and the University of Toronto, this video covers the March 21 rally and march for accessible, high quality education, jointly organized by CUPE 3903 and 3902.

Please share widely!

To view the video on the CUPE 3903 YouTube channel, please click here.