On Tuesday, February 27, the bargaining team for CUPE 3903 Units 1, 2, and 3 continued to bargain with the help of the conciliator appointed by the Ministry of Labour, Greg Long. The union’s bargaining team worked all day to drop and amend proposals. There are two days of bargaining before the Final Offer meeting.
Most of the proposal documents which have been tabled so far are available on the Reports page.
Employer Moves on Unit 1 Funding
The employer presented an encouraging counter on Unit 1 funding. Their proposed language would most notably allow Unit 1 members to indicate by August 10 that they wish to receive their fellowship funding over the next summer.
This is definitely a move in the right direction. However, issues that were identified as “red lines” by Unit 1 remain: writing the fellowship model into the collective agreement, penalties for late payments, and stopping the increase in ticketed course directorships.
It is interesting to note that as recently as yesterday, the employer was saying that such a choice for summer funding is unworkable. We strongly encourage York to think hard about what other proposals, especially for Unit 2 job security and Unit 3 employment, might be possible after all.
Union Continues to Amend and Drop Proposals
The bargaining team presented the following three counters, ordered by proposal number:
- 18: We agree to the 6 weeks of sexual and domestic violence leave suggested by the employer, but have asked for this language to be linked to long-term disability language.
- 48: A serious amendment to the proposal for Unit 3 jobs, we have moved from a minimum number of jobs to language that prioritizes that research work be given to Graduate Assistants rather than other forms of non-unionized labour. If York is correct that these research jobs do not exist, this language should not be a problem.
- 108: Drop reduction of class sizes except for clinical course directors in Nursing, and create a cap to the number of extra students that can be enrolled into a class taught by a Unit 2 member.
The bargaining team also prepared a comprehensive package which further drops and amends proposals in order to limit the number and lower the total value of our proposals. A more detailed accounting of this package will be shared tomorrow.
Bargaining Continues Wednesday and Thursday
The bargaining team is working hard to reach a negotiated agreement. They have offered to bargain into the evening on Wednesday if it will help reach a deal. Bargaining will be moving from Founders 015A to Founders 305 at 3:30 pm on Wednesday. We will also continue bargaining Thursday morning.
‘Final Offer’ Meeting: Friday March 2
The ‘Final Offer’ meeting, at which the membership will accept or reject a deal, will take place on Friday March 2, starting at 11:30am, in the main gym of the Tait McKenzie Centre. Should the offer be rejected, discussion on what comes next will follow. Any decision to call a strike will come from the membership.