Bargaining update #24

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

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

On Tuesday, March 24, the mediator handed the Bargaining Team (BT) a set of counters from the Employer.

The Employer’s counters make significant moves on our key issues of tuition indexation and the LGBTQ proposal. While these represent improvements over the Employer’s previous position, more must be done.

The Employer proposed new tuition indexation language in our Letter of Intent 6. Their language has two main differences from ours. Our proposal is for a dollar-for-dollar increase in which tuition increases are matched by funding increases. York’s proposal is that, if tuition increases, then funding becomes available, but it could come either from more work or from Graduate Financial Assistance (GFA). Given that we are still protected by our current Collective Agreement language ensuring we do no more than 10 hours of work a week, it seems likely that this extra work would be attached to summer funding.

The second difference between the Employer’s counter and our indexation proposal is that the language will protect visa and domestic students from tuition hikes from the rates of September 1, 2014 instead of going back to 2005. While the counter presented by the Employer is significant insofar as it will protect both incoming and current students from tuition increases, their current counter also requires that we accept the huge hike in international students tuition fees that they unilaterally imposed on our members in 2013.

This is problematic as it does not address the situation that many international students now face: $0 pay cheques. This goes against the principle of indexation that CUPE 3903 has been fighting for in arbitration and on the picket lines. If international student tuition fees remain at their current levels, York will be able to attract wealthy international students, but we must ask what this will mean for the diversity of our membership. As class, race, and gender intersect, this aspect of the Employer’s counter represents a serious equity concern for CUPE 3903.

In regards to our LGBTQ proposal, the Employer has countered with the following:

“5.03.1 No later than 6 months following the ratification of the 2014-17 collective agreement a subcommittee of the Joint Labour Management equity group under the collective agreement and the CUPE 3903 Employment Equity Plan, taking into account the absence of reliable external representational data. The Plan to include LGBTQ as an employment equity group will be recommended to the parties and the agreed upon plan will be promptly implemented.”

The Bargaining Team is pleased with the Employer’s movement in this area and is working on a counter to address a few remaining issues.

Lastly, although tuition indexation and our LGBTQ proposal are also included in the Unit 3 collective agreement, there was no movement from the Employer on the issue of Unit 3 minimum funding. We are very disappointed that the Employer continues to ignore the concerns and needs of our Unit 3 members.

The Employer’s counter on tuition indexation and the Employer’s refusal to address the issue of Unit 3 funding will be discussed at the Special General Membership Meeting on Thursday, March 26. The BT is seeking direction from the membership prior to presenting a counter to the Employer on Friday, March 27.

The dedication of our members on the picket lines and in other essential strike duties over the last three weeks is working, and we have finally seen real movement from the Employer on the principle of indexation. But they must do more to address the issues facing Unit 3 and international students. We thank members for their hard work and support on the picket lines and we ask that you continue to stand with us as we bargain for a better deal.

Applying pressure for a fair contract: upcoming actions and a picket update

Picket line with metal safety gate at Glendon campus

Picket line with metal safety gate at Glendon campus

Our goal remains to negotiate a fair contract that meets our members’ identified priorities as soon as possible. In order to achieve this, we need to increase the pressure on the administration through creative actions and mobilizations.

This Friday, many of our members will be taking part in a march from Glendon campus to U of T. Members that have been picketing at Keele campus are encouraged to go to Glendon and join in this action. We will maintain only one picket line at Keele campus on Friday – the picket at Main Gate. So, picketers can join the Main Gate line at 7:30 a.m. or 11:30 a.m. or go to Glendon for 11:30 a.m. In each case, make sure you sign in and out with a picket captain. For further details on the Glendon to U of T march, see the link above.

On Saturday, we were planning a creative info picket for York’s Spring Open House. However, it looks like they have cancelled the event. Sadly, we can’t trust everything YorkU tells us, so we are going ahead with a Saturday picket from 9:00 until 1:00. Please meet at Main Gate. If there is an open house, we will be ready, otherwise we will find some other fun (and perhaps disruptive) things to do!

Next week, we will add an evening picket shift from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on selected days. The goal is to add evening picket lines on Sentinel and Main Gate on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. But next week, we will start with a Monday (March 30) evening picket at Sentinel and Main Gate (3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.).

SGMM location is the Rexall Centre

The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

The location of the Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM) on strike next steps will be the Rexall Centre, 1 Shoreham Drive. See the Rexall Centre on this map.

A FREE fully accessible shuttle bus will run from the Main Gate (York Boulevard and Keele Street) on the day of the SGMM, starting at 4:30 p.m. and every 20 minutes until 8:30 p.m. (or until 30 minutes after the end of the meeting, if it runs later than 8:00 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 4:50 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, immediately adjacent to the York University campus, and served by the same TTC bus service (106 York University) with the same frequency as the Montecassino Hotel.

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.

Bargaining update #23

A CUPE 3903 flag is displayed prominently among picketers on the main gate picket line.

A CUPE 3903 flag is displayed prominently among picketers on the main gate picket line.

The CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (BT) met in the afternoon of March 23 to discuss the ongoing negotiations process.

The BT received word from the provincially-appointed mediator that he had new information from the Employer and would be prepared to meet the BT on March 24 to discuss this information.

The BT hopes that the mediator will present written counter-proposals from the Employer that start to address the union’s core concerns related to tuition indexation, improved protections for LGBT members, and a minimum funding guarantee for Unit 3.

The meeting will take place at Tuesday, March 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Unifor 112, 30 Tangiers Road (map). BT meetings are open to all members of CUPE 3903 and the BT encourages members to attend.

Executive Committee vacancies

The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

The CUPE 3903 red-star logo

The following positions on the Executive Committee of CUPE 3903 are vacant:

  • Chief Steward Unit 3
  • Communications Officer

All other positions remain filled.

The Executive Committee will temporarily fill the vacant positions at a meeting of the Executive Committee in two weeks, on Tuesday, April 7 (time and location TBA). The positions will be filled according to Article 8 (l) (ii) of the bylaws:

“Should the Executive Committee not be able to take responsibility for the duties of an absent Executive member, the Executive may fill this absence on the Executive on a pro- tem basis with any member of good standing. Such vacancies must be posted in the union office at least two (2) weeks prior to the Executive meeting where the vacancy is to be filled. Executive positions filled on a pro-tem basis must be advertised as vacant for the agenda of the next General Membership Meeting, where nominations will be opened and elections held as per Article 14 (Elections). Officers elected in this manner will hold their positions until elections in March.”

Members in good standing may nominate themselves for these vacant positions. Only members of Unit 3 may nominate themselves for the position of Chief Steward Unit 3, but members of any unit may nominate themselves for the position of Communications Officer.

To nominate yourself, please indicate in an email to the Recording Secretary your name, your unit, and the position that you would like to fill: recsec.cupe3903@gmail.com. Nominations for the vacant positions will be accepted by email or in person during the Executive Committee meeting on April 7. Nominees may prepare a short statement about why they would like to fill the vacant positions, and include it in their nomination email message or state it in person at the Executive Committee meeting on April 7.

As York University classes resume, union expresses serious safety concerns

Members of CUPE 3903 walk the picket line at Chimneystack Road.

Members of CUPE 3903 walk the picket line at Chimneystack Road.

Education workers on strike at York University are deeply concerned that the administration’s decision to resume all classes on Monday, March 23 will lead to escalating tensions on picket lines, posing severe safety risks for picketers, undergraduate students, and the broader university community.

Around 2,600 teaching and graduate assistants, represented by Local 3903 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 3903), have been on strike since March 3, and have yet to negotiate a deal with the university.

On Thursday, March 19, the York University Senate moved to resume all remaining classes, with the exception of those courses or programs that decide to opt out to maintain academic integrity. The CUPE 3903 Executive Committee has expressed serious concerns about the likely prospect of increased hostility and violence towards striking members on picket lines, as well as the dangerous climate created for returning undergraduate students and other members of the university community, as classes re-open prior to the settlement of the strike.

“By choosing to resume classes, York University bears responsibility for any potential safety issues that ensue,” says Faiz Ahmed, chair of CUPE 3903. “This move also reflects an attempt by the administration to return to business as usual and to sidestep the bargaining process.”

Megan Hillman, Executive Committee member and co-chair of the union’s Trans Feminist Action Caucus (TFAC) adds: “Safety on the picket lines is a pressing and serious matter. We have already witnessed an alarming number of incidents while exercising our legal right to picket, including death threats, hit-and-runs, physical clashes, and verbal abuse. It has also been extremely disturbing to see the threats and violence directed at women on the picket lines, in particular. With the volume of traffic increasing on campus as more classes open, the prospects for more hostility and violence will only grow.”

While York University has urged for calm, the union strongly believes that the resumption of classes will only escalate the already alarming safety issues.

“You cannot end the tensions on picket lines by simply increasing security and the police presence. The only way to ensure the safety of our members and the broader community is for the university to return to the bargaining table in good faith and to resume classes once the strike has been settled,” said Hillman.

For more information, please email CUPE3903chair@members.cupe.ca.

The continuing CUPE 3903 strike and the attempted resumption of classes at York U

Road Sign at Keele Campus: Wrong Way

Road sign at Keele Campus: Wrong Way

It is not “business as usual” at York University.

Unit 1 and 3 members remain engaged in a legal strike. These members are not working. They are not teaching courses, tutorials, or labs. Picket lines remain around campus. Our picket lines will, as they have the legal right to do, cause delays in accessing campus. TTC and other buses (except Wheel Trans) are not crossing the picket lines.

We urge members of the York community trying to access campus to expect delays and remain patient.

Not all classes are resuming. The York University Senate has given individual faculty the right to suspend classes based on their assessment of their ability to maintain the academic integrity of their course. A number of departments have declared that they will not resume classes at all during the strike. In other departments many individual tenured faculty (York University Faculty Association members) and Unit 2 (CUPE 3903) members have made the decision to not be resume classes in order to maintain the academic integrity of the material’s presentation.

York University students retain the right not to cross picket lines. This is guaranteed by Senate’s Policy on Cessations of University Business. Students who exercise this right cannot be penalized for not crossing the picket line, and have the right to receive their education, grades and credits after the strike.

An end to the strike is readily available. The CUPE 3903 bargaining team has tabled proposals that, if accepted by the Employer, would quickly end the strike. They are only three in total, and in the context of the University’s $1,000,000,000 budget, cost the Employer almost nothing.

Our Bargaining Team has let the university know that CUPE 3903 is ready to meet to discuss their response, and hopes that classes can resume quickly, with all members of CUPE 3903 returning to their jobs and studies.

Special General Membership Meeting on strike next steps: Tentative agenda

CUPE flags flutter above the crowd at a solidarity rally at the main gate picket line.

CUPE flags flutter above the crowd at a solidarity rally at the main gate picket line.

Special General Membership Meeting on strike next steps
Thursday, March 26
5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (doors open at 4:30 p.m.)
Rexall Centre
1 Shoreham Drive | Map

Join and share on Facebook.

A FREE fully accessible shuttle bus will run from the Main Gate (York Boulevard and Keele Street), starting at 4:30 p.m. today and every 20 minutes until 8:30 p.m. (or until 30 minutes after the end of the meeting, if it runs later than 8:00 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 4:50 p.m. and every 20 minutes until the meeting ends. After 7:00 p.m., the shuttle will drop off members in front of Vari Hall, instead of at the Main Gate.

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, immediately adjacent to the York University campus, and served by the same TTC bus service (106 York University) with the same frequency as the Montecassino Hotel.

Agenda *

1) Roll call of the officers and the Bargaining Team (5 minutes)

2) Reading of the Equality Statement

3) Reading of the Mississauga Land Acknowledgment

4) Bargaining Team report-back (90 minutes)

Please see Bylaws Article 17 (4) (b): “The Bargaining Team, with the support of the Executive, shall have ongoing and wide consultation processes with the membership to support its work. To that end, the Bargaining Team shall give report-backs to the membership at all General Membership meetings.”

  • Report from the Bargaining Team (15 minutes)
  • Discussion (75 minutes)

5) Committee reports (60 minutes)

  • Executive Committee
  • Strike Committee
  • Strike Communications Committee
  • Picket captains / lines (Founders, Chimneystack, Main Gate, Pond, Sentinel, Shoreham, Glendon, 8th line)
  • Hardship Fund
  • Other

6) Good of the union

7) Adjournment

* Please note that this is only a tentative agenda. It may be slightly amended/updated by the Executive Committee in the days before the GMM.

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.

Striking education workers at York, U of T to hold joint rally at Dundas Square

This post originally appeared as a media advisory on Canada Newswire and may be viewed here.

Striking education workers at York, U of T to hold joint rally at Dundas Square

TORONTO, March 21, 2015 /CNW/ – Striking education workers at York University and the University of Toronto will hold a joint rally in support of accessible, high quality education on Saturday, March 21 (today) at 1:00 p.m. in Yonge-Dundas Square in downtown Toronto. The rally will end at 4:00 p.m. at Queen’s Park, where participants will call on the provincial government to properly fund post-secondary education in Ontario and reduce tuition fees.

The rally is jointly organized by locals 3903 and 3902 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represent striking education workers at York University and the University of Toronto respectively. CUPE 3903 has been on strike since March 3, while CUPE 3902 has been on strike since February 27.

“Inadequate funding leads to inadequate working and learning conditions,” says Faiz Ahmed, chair of CUPE 3903. “Our strikes are about improving the quality of education of our students, and fighting against tuition fee increases.”

Rally organizers have attracted widespread support from labour, student, parent and community organizations across Toronto, which plan to join Saturday’s event.

WHO: Striking education workers from York U and U of T and their supporters
WHAT: A rally in support of accessible, high quality education
WHEN: Saturday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m. (today)
WHERE: Yonge-Dundas Square
WHY: To demand accessible, high quality education in Ontario

For more information, please click here.

The rally poster

The rally poster

CUPE 3903 statement on resumption of classes taught by Unit 2 members

As per yesterday’s Senate decision, the University is moving ahead with plans to reopen classes in LAPS and FES on Monday, March 23. This meeting also confirmed that it is up to individual faculty members to determine whether the academic integrity of their classes can be maintained if they are held during the strike. The Senate Executive is asking all faculty members in LAPS and FES, including CUPE Unit 2 members, to report to their Chair (or Dean’s office) by 4pm today whether or not they believe, in their professional opinion, that their classes can be resumed.

If you believe that your class cannot be resumed, you must provide a rationale as to why you think the academic integrity of the course cannot be ensured. Given the ongoing strike, the fact that TA and GA teaching team members are still on the picket lines, and that many students refuse to cross these lines, we encourage our Unit 2 members to provide such a rationale, explaining that the academic integrity of a course cannot be maintained under these conditions.

Whatever your decision is, it should not be reversed, or questioned, by your department or Dean’s office. If you are asked to resubmit your report or rationale, or to reverse your decision, we encourage you to get in touch with the Union first. CUPE 3903 will defend the right of members to make their own decisions about the academic integrity of their courses, and will of course do everything we can to fight any reprisals against members for making such decisions.

Lastly, we again call on the University to return to the bargaining table, so that we can come to an agreed settlement, and get all classes back up and running.