York is denying members increases to vacation pay by arbitrarily adding terms to the existing settlement language. In bargaining, the employer clearly agreed that members with more than 5 years of service would receive 6% vacation pay. York has now arbitrarily decided that this applies only to those with more than 5 continuous years of service, leaving many of our members without their entitled vacation increases.
York has decided that any 5-month break (or more) in employment resets the hiring date by which years of service is calculated. For example, after years of service someone who was not given teaching contracts for more than five months and then was finally offered a contract could find themselves treated as if they were brand new hires when calculating vacation pay.
This is an atrocious breach of previously agreed upon terms. The employer had every opportunity to inform the union of its interpretation at the last Labour-Management Committee meeting, where the topic was discussed at length. This interpretation is the complete opposite of what we had indicated would be acceptable.
Given the uneven rollout of retroactive vacation pay how many members are affected by this egregious decision is unknown. This may impact all units. All members who believe they are effected should contact their Chief Steward (cupe3903csu1@gmail.com; cupe3903chiefstewardunit2@gmail.com; cupe3903csu3@gmail.com) or the Grievance Officer (cupe3903go@gmail.com).
We reject York’s attempt to unilaterally change our collective agreement language and will pursue all avenues to ensure our members get the vacation pay they are entitled to.