The nomination period for the Grievance Officer and Vice-President Unit 3 vacancies closed on September 14 at 5pm. The candidates who have been nominated for these positions are below.

Grievance Officer

• Brendan Bruce (Unit 1)
• Sarah Hornstein (Unit 2)

Vice-President Unit 3

• Tracey J. Mann
• Graham Reeder
• Jeffrey Zavala

The campaigning period is considered open. Statements for each of these candidates will be posted on the evening of Monday, September 19.

Balloting will begin at the September 28 GMM and continue for five days. Polling stations will be available at the Keele and Glendon campuses.

Over the course of late July and August we met with the employer on several occasions. Nothing was accomplished.

The employer did not acknowledge our concerns and priorities regarding Roles and Responsibilities. While there has been ongoing discussion regarding benefits nothing has been officially agreed upon or ‘signed’. Our efforts to clarify these issues and express our concerns have met with further obfuscation. We also have been unable to reach agreement on the minimum number of weekly hours for contracts. The employer also refused to acknowledge provisions for circumstances unique to the Glendon library.

At the next meeting the bargaining team will submit articles which adhere closely in format, practice, language, and spirit to existing CUPE collective agreements. The employer, however, has argued that since Unit 4 is creating a ‘first contract’ it is not bound by existing precedent and is justified in setting any standard back thirty years or more.

The next bargaining meeting will be held on Thursday, September 23, 2:30-5pm, at N926N Ross.

The Childcare Fund is a fund in the amount of $200,000 per year, which was won for 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. It is meant to offset the childcare costs for members with childcare responsibilities.

The deadline for this round of applications is October 14, 2016 with funds being dispersed on October 31, 2016. Since a new committee has taken over the responsibility of adjudicating the fund, the deadlines for this round of applications have been extended. After this term, deadlines will revert to the last day of the first month of the each semester (Jan. 31, May 31).

Eligibility

Members are eligible if they meet the following conditions:

• Have childcare responsibilities, defined as guardianship or parenting (regardless of custody arrangement or legal standing)
• Have children under the age of thirteen (under 13 years old) and/or children with disabilities/additional needs (intellectual, psychiatric, physical, social, sensory) under the age of eighteen (under 18 years old).
• The benefit is per employee regardless of the number of children involved
• Members may choose to opt out of this benefit; if they opt out the money will be re-allocated to other eligible members.
• This benefits applies to all members regardless of leave status, including but not limited to parental leave, long or short term disability and research leaves. Neither the union nor the employer shall choose the childcare provision arrangements.

How to Apply

Fill out and return the application form either in person or by mail to the CUPE 3903 office (the form is available as a Word document or PDF). We do not accept applications via email. You will need to provide proof of parental responsibilities by providing documentation such as, but not exclusive to, copies of birth certificates or guardianship papers. Please note that you also need to provide you social insurance number and date of birth.

For children with disabilities/additional needs a letter from a medical care provider shall be submitted.

The union will destroy all personal information with the exceptions of the fact that you have children, the age of your youngest child, and whether any of your children have different abilities.

Forms can be dropped off or mailed to CUPE 3903:

143 Atkinson Building
96 The Pond Road
York University
4700 Keele Street,
Toronto, ON
M3J 1PP3

Disbursements

Childcare benefits will be disbursed each semester. The total amount of the childcare fund will be divided into three (Fall, Winter, Summer). The total amount of the fund will be divided equally among members with childcare responsibilities. The disbursements will be paid out (cheques to be picked up or put in the mail) by the last day of the second month of the semester.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the committee at 3903childcare@gmail.com.

At the August 31 General Membership Meeting (GMM), quorum was not achieved. Nonetheless, members nominated to open committee positions unopposed were considered acclaimed.

Some committee vacancies remain. They will be elected at the September 28 GMM. In order to nominate yourself, please email Sara at cupe3903vpu1@gmail.com by 5 pm on Tuesday, September 27. You may provide a short statement if you choose. Details for the open committee positions are below.

The Accessibility Committee (1 vacancy) was organized in the spring of 2005 to improve the union’s work around accessibility issues on campus and to ensure that union spaces and meetings are accessible. Honorarium: $250 per year.

The Bilingualism Committee (2 vacancies) is responsible for assessing and responding to the needs of the local in terms of translation and French language content and promoting outreach and inclusion for our francophone members. This committee coordinates translation of important documents and resources as well as any other translation projects that may arise. Honorarium: $500 per year.

The Communications Committee (1 vacancy) is responsible for coordinating CUPE 3903 communications, including maintaining and updating the CUPE 3903 website, maintaining a social media presence, and taking on communications projects and campaigns. Honorarium: $750 per year.

The Toronto & York Region Labour Council (1 vacancy) is comprised of all affiliated locals across the labour movement in the Toronto and York region. It meets once per month. CUPE 3903 is entitled to four delegates elected for a one-year term. Honorarium: $250.

Late last week, fellowship amounts were posted to student accounts. In the last few days, sifting through the reports from members and multiple students who should have been members, we have managed to gather some information. Bear in mind that this is information we have been able to cobble together, as FGS remains tight-lipped.

What We Know

• PhD Students should have received $1801 for domestic students and $2822 for international students. Domestic students holding an OGS have received $134, because York has clawed back the $5000 it is responsible for towards the fellowship. International students who started in 2012 and hold an International Tuition Scholarship have also received $1801.
• Masters students have received a portion of their fellowship ($1739 for domestic students; $6419 for international students). FGS sent out an email on September 7 explaining that the rest of the fellowship for domestic students will follow “at a later date upon confirmation of your teaching assistant/graduate assistant appointment”. Translation: once they have calculated how much of the fellowship they can claw back from the rare Masters students who managed to find work.
• The fact that a vast majority of fellowships were incorrectly labelled (domestic students getting fellowships labelled international and vice versa) has been confirmed by FGS as a mistake.

What We Still Don’t Know

• Why FGS waited several days after it had posted the fellowship to explain that they were paying domestic Masters students in installments, which is contrary to what was communicated in the past.
• How fellowship amounts are impacted for students with large scholarships other than OGS.
• How fellowship amounts are impacted for Unit 1 members with 0.5 or otherwise partial TAships.
• How fellowship amounts are impacted for Unit 1 members who hold a Course Directorship.
• When fellowship amounts in excess of tuition will be refunded.
• How this model is more simple and transparent.

York started sharing its plan for this new funding model in January; surely it had been in the planning stages for many months prior. Given this much time to plan the details, this haphazard roll-out is an insult to all of us who need to know how much money we can count on to pay our bills.

The most recent email from the Faculty of Graduate Studies makes their contempt for our members’ precarious financial situations clear, when they stated “Please be reminded there will be no additional financial postings to student accounts from October to December, unless to correct an error or to reflect a change in eligibility status. As such, we encourage you to budget for these months accordingly”.

Entreating us to budget when a) many people are still unclear on what amounts to expect, and b) they eliminated payroll deduction, is truly galling.

The Vice-President Unit 3 position has been declared vacant. Following the provisions set out in Article 14 of the bylaws, the nomination period for this position will be opened for by-election at the August 31 GMM. The nomination period will close on September 14, 5 pm.

Nomination forms must be completed in accordance with Article 14.l of our bylaws:

(b) Nomination for any position must be signed by the nominee and by two additional members in good standing and addressed to the election officers. Nominations must be brought to the union office during the nominations period. Each nominee must also record his/her nomination by signing the register that is to be publicly displayed next to the nomination box.
(c) Only members in good standing can be nominated and no member may sign more than one (1) nomination for his/her own candidacy in the same nomination and election period.
(d) If at the end of the nomination period only one (1) candidate is nominated, the executive, on the advice of the elections officers, shall declare the position filled by acclamation.

Please note that both the candidate and the members who sign the nomination form must be Unit 3 members in good standing.

Following the same timeline as the Grievance Officer by-election, a minimum of two weeks of campaigning will follow the nomination period. Voting will begin at the September GMM, which is tentatively scheduled for September 28.

The Grievance Officer position was temporarily filled on July 20. Following the provisions set out in Article 14 of the bylaws, the nomination period for this position will be opened for by-election at the August 31 GMM. The nomination period will close on September 14, 5 pm.

Nomination forms must be completed in accordance with Article 14.l of our bylaws:

(b) Nomination for any position must be signed by the nominee and by two additional members in good standing and addressed to the election officers. Nominations must be brought to the union office during the nominations period. Each nominee must also record his/her nomination by signing the register that is to be publicly displayed next to the nomination box.
(c) Only members in good standing can be nominated and no member may sign more than one (1) nomination for his/her own candidacy in the same nomination and election period.
(d) If at the end of the nomination period only one (1) candidate is nominated, the executive, on the advice of the elections officers, shall declare the position filled by acclamation.

A minimum of two weeks of campaigning will follow the nomination period. Voting will begin at the September GMM, which is tentatively scheduled for September 28.

We are now able to announce the names of the seven successful Long Service Teaching Appointments (LSTAs). Eligibility and terms for LSTAs can be found in Article 24 of the Unit 2 collective agreement.

Of the seven successful applicants, six self-identified in one or more of the designated Employment Equity categories.

General Membership Meeting
Wednesday, August 31
12:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Harry Crowe Room
109 Atkinson building

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Tentative Agenda:

1. Roll call of officers
2. Reading of the Equality Statement
3. Reading of the Mississauga Land Acknowledgement
4. Approval of Agenda
5. Reading and Approval of Minutes
6. Notices
   1. Donation to Citizen film project ($1000)
   2. Donation to OPIRG at U of T Disorientation 2016
   3. Donation to Justice for Migrant Workers’s Long March
   4. Donation to Regenesis York affordable housing project ($500)
   5. Donation to 15 Years of War in Afghanistan ($500)
7. Nominations, Elections or Installations
   1. Opening of nominations for the Grievance Officer position
   2. Committee elections
   3. Conference delegate elections
8. Unfinished Business
9. Matters Arising
10. New Business
    1. Endorsement for 15 Years of War in Afghanistan
    2. Endorsement for Justice for Migrant Workers Long March
11. Reports of committees and delegates
    1. Approval of Communications Committee budget
    2. Treasurer’s report
    3. Elections Officer honoraria report
    4. Senate report
12. Executive Reports
13. Good of the Union
14. Adjournment