On Wednesday, November 25th, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team met with the Employer. The Bargaining Team would like to thank members in the room for attending as observers, as per our open bargaining practice.
The following items were discussed at the bargaining meeting:
Closed captioning
As per the bargaining parameters approved by the membership, all virtual bargaining meetings shall have closed captioning made available for accessibility purposes. The Bargaining Team proposed that CUPE 3903 can take on the work of setting up and hosting secure bargaining meetings on Zoom, and that in exchange, the Employer would cover the total cost of closed captioning. The Employer agreed to cover only 50% of the costs associated with providing closed captioning with CUPE 3903 remaining responsible for hosting meetings.
Employer’s extension framework proposal
At the November 16 bargaining meeting, the Employer presented the Bargaining Team with proposals for what the employer is calling an extension framework. Members can see the Employer’s framework of proposals here. Our Bargaining Team had a number of clarifying questions about the proposed framework relating to dated items, greater opportunities for BIPOC contract faculty, the exclusion of the Continual Sessional Standing Program (CSSP) from this framework, and discussing a new job stability program outside of bargaining.
As many funds and programs expire at the end of each Collective Agreement, an automatic extension would lack viability. The items that expire are considered dated items and require renegotiation. The Employer invited CUPE 3903 to make counter proposals about dated items for consideration. Regarding the Employer’s proposed timeline of 18 months of joint committee work to focus on job stability and greater opportunities for BIPOC contract faculty, the Bargaining Team expressed concerns about the effectiveness of a joint committee to work on these issues.
Pertaining to the exclusion of the CSSP from the proposed framework, the Employer invited our Union to include the CSSP as part of a list of items for discussion within the joint committee. Our team reiterated our concerns about working on these important programs outside of bargaining.
Next Meeting
The Bargaining Team asked the Employer to hold all bargaining dates that have been set aside for December. The exact meeting dates will be confirmed after the Bargaining Team consults with the membership at the December GMM.
The December GMM will take place on December 4th from 11am–2pm. The meeting will primarily focus on bargaining issues and proposals. All members are encouraged to attend.
Please register in advance for this meeting by clicking on this link.