The Bargaining Team (BT) for Units 1, 2, and 3 met for the third time on Thursday, March 30.
Agenda
Introductions
Staff Bargaining Proposals
Update on bargaining surveys and unit 1 contract workshops
Bargaining Training: CUPE National training & Anti-oppression training
Planning upcoming meetings
Staff bargaining proposals
Staff gave a brief introduction to several issues that will help form bargaining proposals.
These issues included several unit 2 issues, some issues related to the connection between work and funding for unit 1 and equity issues that have come up since the last bargaining round. There will be a more formal presentation of the bargaining issues identified by staff at an upcoming meeting.
Update on bargaining surveys and unit 1 contract workshops
The completion rates for both the unit 1 and unit 2 survey have been great so far compared to the last bargaining round. The bargaining team established that we would like to hit a 50% completion rate for both units.
Many people are providing updated contact information which is important for mobilization – people are providing non-York emails and phone numbers which is filling in gaps.
The bargaining team plans on keeping the surveys open going into the summer term so that incoming unit 1s and 2s get a chance to fill it out.
The bargaining team talked about whether the survey should have a deadline – we recognize the pros and cons of a firm deadline but also recognize that the bargaining survey can be used as an educational tool to help inform members about the upcoming bargaining round.
The idea of multiple surveys focusing on more specific issues was also brought up – this is something to consider for September.
The unit 1 contract workshop scheduling has been going great – GSAs have been super helpful in scheduling these events. The unit 1 bargaining team is using contract workshops to re-establish steward structure. There has been mixed success in getting Unit 2 members to help in their departments, but the outreach continues.
The bargaining team appreciates having a specific educational process on writing and understanding the language in the collective agreement – building the capacity of our membership.
Bargaining Training
The bargaining team is moving forward with plans to complete bargaining training through CUPE National. The incoming executive will also be invited to this training.
Local staff will be setting up anti-oppression training for the bargaining team for some time soon.
Planning upcoming meetings
TFAC has expressed interest in meeting with the bargaining team to discuss TFAC’s bargaining proposals. We also invite other committees to reach out to the bargaining team to discuss bargaining proposals.
The bargaining team also decided that our next meeting will be scheduled for Thursday April 13th at 10am in the union office.