On Friday, June 4, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team met with the Employer and received counters on our proposals for Unit 1 appointment deadlines, paid voluntary training, and the Unit 3 Graduate Assistant Training Fund (GATF). We also remotivated our Nursing proposals as key priorities that are awaiting counters from the Employer. Finally, we signed off on our proposal for equity hiring provisions in Unit 1 ticketed course directorships. The Union is happy with this movement towards implementing concrete measures for equity, which is the central aspect of CUPE 3903’s bargaining efforts, and we remain committed to holding the Employer to its responsibility to ensure equity for all our members. Members can see the Union’s latest proposal package here.
Category Archives: Bargaining
Report Back – Bargaining Meeting with the Employer, March 29
The Bargaining Team (BT) met with the Employer on Monday, March 29th. The Employer presented counters to our proposals on the Sexual Assault Survivors Support Fund (SASSF) and the Tuition Costs Fund (TCF). The Bargaining Team responded to these counters with minor edits before achieving our first sign-offs! We would like to thank members in the room for attending as observers, as per our open bargaining practice.
Report Back – Mediated Bargaining Sessions with Chris Albertyn, March 13 and 14
On March 13, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (BT) met with Chris Albertyn for the third full weekend sessions to discuss the interlocking issues of job security and equity. While there was some positive movement and we remain optimistic about the ongoing mediated bargaining process, the parties have yet to come to an agreement on any of the outstanding issues. The Union is disappointed that there were no sign-offs at the end of our third weekend.
Report Back – Bargaining Team Meeting on March 11
The Bargaining Team (BT) met from 4:00pm-6:30pm to review the Employer’s Nursing counter proposals. We also prepared for the upcoming bargaining sessions on March 19th, and the mediated week bargaining sessions with Chris Albertyn on March 13th and 14th. During the weekend sessions, the BT will continue to discuss job security measures. Members can see the Union’s job security proposals, as well as the counters exchanged by parties during the weekend session here. Finally, the BT discussed the report-back to be presented at the AGM on March 16.
Next Meetings
Members are encouraged to join us for our upcoming bargaining meetings with the Employer. Dates and exact times of all meetings can be found on our calendar here. Please register in advance. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with a link to join the meeting.
Members can also get in touch with the Bargaining Team for questions and comments.
Report Back – Bargaining meeting with the Employer on March 8
On Monday, March 8, the Bargaining Team met with the Employer. We would like to thank members in the room for attending as observers, as per our open bargaining practice.
Report Back – Mediated Bargaining Sessions with Mediator Chris Albertyn – February 27th and 28th
The CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team continued the process of mediated bargaining on job security issues with the help of Chris Albertyn. While there was some progress over the weekend, the parties remain far apart. Mediated bargaining will continue on March 13th and 14th. Members can find all passes by the Employer and the Union here.
February 27: Third Day of Mediated Bargaining with Chris Albertyn
The Employer’s counter-proposals
The Employer presented counter proposals on the Transitional Continuing Appointments (TCA) and on post-retirement benefits. Key highlights include
- The TCA counter offers only a two-year path to retirement (framed as ‘incentive’);
- The post-retirement benefits counter extends the time to file for retirement from to five months from the end of the last contract, but does not change the $1800 cap on the post-retirement benefits spending account (the Employer cited oversubscription concerns for this, even though the fund has run surpluses every year since its 2008 inception), and does not extend email privileges beyond retirement.
Report Back: February 23 BT and February 26 Bargaining Meetings
Bargaining Team Meeting – February 23
The Bargaining Team met on February 23rd to review the Employer’s most recent proposals from February 16 and 18, implications of Bill 124 on our monetary proposals, and the benefits proposals recommended for inclusion in our package. We also prepared for the bargaining meeting with the Employer on Friday, February 26th. The Bargaining Team decided to focus on proposals relating to Nursing and Unit 3 at this meeting, as they are priorities for the Union in this round of bargaining. We also continued to prepare for the weekend bargaining sessions facilitated by mediator Chris Albertyn, which took place on February 27th and 28th. During these sessions, we continued to discuss job security measures. Members can see the Union’s job security proposals, as well as the counters exchanged by parties during the weekend session here.
Documents from February 26th, 27th, and 28th Bargaining and Mediation
The Bargaining Team met with the Employer for a bargaining meeting on Friday February 26th. The Union also continued engaging with mediator Chris Albertyn on Unit 2 job security proposals on Saturday February 27th and Sunday February 28th. A detailed report will be available shortly; below you can find the documents exchanged over these three days, as well as comparison charts prepared by the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team.
February 26th Bargaining Session
February 27th Mediation Session
- CUPE 3903 job security proposals – February 27, 2021
- York U job security proposals for Unit 2 – February 27, 2021
February 28th Mediation Session
- CUPE 3903 equity hiring proposal for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021
- York U job security proposals for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021
Comparison Charts – Union and Employer Proposals
- Conversions for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021
- Transitional Continuing Appointments (formerly Albertyn Appointments) for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021
- Equity hiring for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021 [Second pass]
- Equity hiring for Unit 2 – February 28, 2021 [First pass]
- Equity hiring for Unit 2 – February 27, 2021
- Conversions for Unit 2 – February 27, 2021
- Transitional Continuing Appointments (formerly Albertyn Appointments) for Unit 2 – February 27, 2021
- Post-retirement benefits for Unit 2 – February 27, 2021
Report Back: Meetings on February 17th, 18th and 19th
This week, the Bargaining Team met with the Employer on February 16 and 18, and had Bargaining Team meetings on February 17th and 19th. We would like to thank members in the room for attending as observers, as per our open bargaining practice.
February 17th Bargaining Team Meeting
On February 17th, we discussed the Employer’s proposals from February 16th, and prepared for our upcoming bargaining meetings on February 18th and 19th. We also had some discussion to prepare for our ongoing weekend mediation process with mediator Chris Albertyn (February 20th, 21st, 27th and 28th) which will be dedicated to discussing job security programs for Unit 2.
The Bargaining Team’s Response to the Employer’s Interpretation of Bill 124
At the bargaining meeting on December 17, 2020, the Employer put forward an interpretation of Bill 124 (the bill enacting the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act) that the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team felt was concerning. Namely, the Employer argued that “compensation”, as it was defined in the Bill, included the cost of penalties within the Collective Agreement, and that any workload reduction (including caps on class sizes) were in-effect a compensation increase. The CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team at the time rejected this understanding. At the December 22 bargaining meeting, we reiterated our position and asked for a written statement from the Employer, outlining their understanding of Bill 124. CUPE 3903 received this statement on January 19, 2021.