On July 23rd a meeting was held with York and the appointed arbitrator (Eli Gedalof) at which all parties agreed on the procedures necessary to resolve these grievances. Unfortunately mediation is a lengthy process. Labour arbitration of this type typically takes two or more years, and hearings on most matters will not take place until January/February of 2020.
Following the conclusion of the 2018 strike we began to raise several back to work/remediation issues with York, and were often met with their silence. As soon as a grievance arbitrator was put into place we began filing grievances. We have filed several grievances, representing hundreds of cases, with the arbitrator concerning Unit 1 and 2 remediation pay, Unit 2 hiring, and other issues including missing and/or incorrect vacation pay, and department specific issues.
On July 23rd, after a long day with York refusing to address any issues at the scheduled meeting itself, all parties were able to agree on procedures to move forward. There are several rounds of document submission and reports/responses that then take place. Hearings on major issues such as Unit 1 and 2 remediation, and Unit 2 hiring, are tentatively scheduled for the last week of January/first week of February 2020. Hearing dates for other matters will be finalized in September. All parties have agreed that Gedalof is empowered to decide on all issues.
We thank members who filled in our pay discrepancy form or contacted us about remediation issues. We may be in contact over the next month as we prepare additional documentation for the arbitrator. We will also do our best to keep members informed of the remediation progress.