Remediation Resistance: Email and Phone Zap

90% of salary that would have been earned completing the Winter Term should mean exactly that.

Even though the Memoranda of Settlement and the Employer’s own remediation FAQ states that remediation pay is 90% of what “would have been earned completing the Winter Term”, York has been choosing to pay out 90% of entire full contracts – at the expense of members’ pay chequesLet’s tell York to give CUPE 3903 members their money.

Who to email:

Email script:

Hi, my name is _________. I am emailing today to request that HR deposit a correction for the “Winter 2024” error in the 90% remediation pay. I am also requesting that HR will calculate and issue a second correction for the error related to “completing” the term. Fix CUPE 3903’s pay now.

Who to call:

  • (416)-736-5881 – Assistant Vice-President Labour Relations
  • (416)-736-5200 – Rhonda Lenton, President of York University
  • (416)-736-5280 – Lisa Philipps, Provost & Vice-President Academic
  • (416)-736-2100 x 66220 – Mary Catherine Masciangelo, Assistant Vice-President Human Resources

Phone script:

Hi, my name is _________. I am calling today to request that HR deposit a correction for the “Winter 2024” error in the 90% remediation pay. I am also requesting that HR will calculate and issue a second correction for the error related to “completing” the term. Fix CUPE 3903’s pay now.

The background:

On May 24th, members received payment from York University that did not reflect our expectations of the remediation period. We reject the Employer’s mischaracterization of 90% remediation pay as being 90% of members’ full contracts, regardless of whether they are Fall-Winter or just Winter term.

We interpret this as contravening the Memoranda of Settlement, which states that:

“The amounts paid will provide for up to 100% of the total payments for the Winter 2024 Term. The Employer will, as soon as practicable, provide the difference between what has been paid to the commencement of the strike and 90% of salary (less statutory deductions not including union dues) and Grant-in-Aid (GIA) that would have been earned completing the Winter Term.” (emphases ours)

The emphasis on Winter Term is also stated in the Employer’s own language in their remediation FAQs, which states,

“The agreed upon return-to-work protocols provide that upon return to work, CUPE employees will receive 90% of the salary (less statutory deductions) that would have been earned completing the Winter Term” (emphasis ours).

We are also concerned that the Employer’s current interpretation may not be aligned with the past-practices of previous remediation periods. If you are concerned too, let’s share our frustrations with York.