The Grievance Officer, Kyle Belozerov, is resigning effective November 30. In order to ensure continuous coverage of the position, nominations are now open, and will close November 7 at 5pm.

The position of Grievance Officer is open to members in good standing from any unit. However, as this is a bargaining year, the Grievance Officer also sits on the bargaining team as a representative of their own unit, as well as for the local as a whole. Interested members are encouraged to acquaint themselves with the position as described in Article 9 (Officers) of the CUPE 3903 Bylaws.

Nomination sheets can be picked up from the CUPE 3903 office (143 Atkinson). The nomination sheet must be signed by two members in good standing and deposited in the nomination box in the office. Candidates must also sign the register next to the nomination box. Failure to complete any of these steps will result in the nomination being disqualified.

Rawan Abdelbaki, a former member of CUPE 3903’s Unit 3 (Graduate Assistants), talks about what being a part of the union has meant to her. Since York has cut around 700 jobs from Unit 3, protecting the rights of graduate students to unionized work is crucial this round of bargaining.

Videos meant to inform the broader public and our members about CUPE 3903, bargaining, and the more will be released on a regular schedule. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and please share widely!

Direction and videography by Amin Toyouri

Accessible education shouldn’t be a lottery.

York University recently introduced what it calls the ”fellowship funding model,” cutting hundreds of jobs for graduate students. This means that hundreds of incoming students are being forced to do without the benefits and protections of a union.

Videos meant to inform the broader public and our members about CUPE 3903, bargaining, and the more will be released on a regular schedule. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and please share widely!

Direction and videography by Amin Toyouri

CUPE 3903 Bargaining Mobilization – Membership Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CUPE3903bargaining

This survey is for all members of our local.

Our ability to obtain an improved Collective Agreement (and resist the Employer’s proposals for concessions) is dependent upon membership involvement and mobilization.

Continue reading →

General Membership Meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 24
1:00pm-4:00pm
Location: Harry Crowe, 109 Atkinson

Join and share the event on Facebook here!

Agenda

1. Roll Call of Officers
2. Reading of the Equity Statement
3. Reading of the Mississauga Land Acknowledgement
4. Approval of Agenda
5. Treasurer’s Report
6. Committee Updates
7. Notices of Motion
8. Matters Arising
   1. Changing the Name of the ‘Miscellaneous Working Groups’ budget line to ‘Anti-Racism Working Group’
9. Bargaining
   1. Bargaining Update
   2. Bargaining Timeline
   3. Proposals (cont.)
10. Executive Reports
11. Adjournment

Please contact Sheila Wilmot at cupe3903.equity.officer@gmail.com or at 416-736-5154 ext. 3 if you require any of the following: ASL interpretation, reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care, and/or transportation costs for members who are unable to secure Wheel-Trans, or other requests for accommodation.

Bargaining Update

On Monday, October 16, the CUPE 3903 and York University bargaining teams met to exchange proposals. Thank you to the several rank-and-file members who attended the meeting. Open bargaining and membership mobilization is the source of our strength. The next meeting will be on Monday, October 30.

Employer Proposals

The employer tabled a number of proposals. Most of these are concessionary in nature, and we hope that their position will come to approach the union’s position as bargaining progresses. Continue reading →

Our next TFAC meeting will be taking place on Thursday, Oct 19th, 10am – 12pm, Union office.
A large share of our meeting will be devoted to TFAC usual work and projects. Please join us!

As a reminder, our following meetings will be:
Thursday Nov 2nd at 3pm for a Special Bargaining Mobilization Meeting
Tuesday Nov 14th at 3pm for our November TFAC Meeting
Wednesday Nov 29 at 1pm for a Special Bargaining Mobilization Meeting
Monday Dec 11th at 12pm for our December TFAC Meeting

All trans, woman identified, gender queer and gender variant CUPE 3903 members are members of TFAC and are welcome to join our meetings.

If you have any questions, or would like something on the agenda, please get in touch (tfac.cupe3903@gmail.com).

The Cross-Campus Alliance at York University stands in solidarity with OPSEU college faculty members at Seneca College and their colleagues across Ontario who are currently bargaining a new province-wide collective agreement, and who have set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Monday, October 16, 2017.

OPSEU college faculty members are bargaining for a fairer college system that provides good, secure jobs, high quality education for students, and democratic decision making on campuses. We stand side by side with OPSEU in calling for equal treatment for all faculty members by levelling up working conditions of part-time and partial-load contract faculty members to those of their full-time colleagues, providing secure employment for all while enabling faculty to offer the highest quality instruction to students. We also support OPSEU’s position that faculty and students must have a meaningful say in the academic decisions that impact students’ education.

Contract faculty members with OPSEU 560, who work for Seneca @ York, are located on York University’s Keele campus where the majority of our members work and study.

In the event of a strike, we will immediately marshal our resources to support OPSEU 560 members on their picket lines in any way possible. We will announce the picket locations to our members, encourage all our members to attend, and coordinate regular solidarity activities. 

Further, we will vigorously defend OPSEU members’ right to peacefully picket on and/or near York’s Keele campus as they see fit. The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized peaceful picketing in the context of a labour dispute as part and parcel of the constitutionally-protected right to free expression. We firmly reject any attempt by the York University administration to characterize York University’s campuses as private spaces where picketing can be lawfully and legitimately prohibited.

We encourage all our members to show their support for the college faculty by following this link to send a message immediately to 24 Ontario College Presidents. 

The York Cross-Campus Alliance represents tens of thousands of students, staff, and faculty at York University. The Cross-Campus Alliance includes:

• York University Graduate Students’ Association
• York University Faculty Association
• York University Staff Association
• York Federation of Students
• CUPE 3903
• CUPE 1356
• OPSEU Local 578
• UNITE HERE Local 75

Due to the employer delaying on depositing the funds into the Childcare account, the Childcare Fund Committee is extending the deadline for applying for the childcare fund. You must apply for the childcare fund every year, even if you have received funding in the past. The new deadline to apply is October 25th.

All members of the local are eligible for the childcare fund if they have a child under the age of 13 or if they have a child under the age of 18 who has a disability. You can read more details here: https://3903.cupe.ca/childcare-fund/

We thank all people who have applied for their patience while we wait for the employer to deposit the funds so we can distribute them ASAP.

Meet Benjamin Stein, a Unit 1 member of CUPE 3903, who talks about what the union means to him.

Videos meant to inform the broader public and our members about CUPE 3903, bargaining, and the more will be released on a regular schedule. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and please share widely!

Direction and videography by Amin Toyouri