Member Supports Against Intimidation and Reprisals from the Employer

Over the past few weeks, we have heard from members, particularly international students and racialized members, who are experiencing significant anxieties around reprisals and harassment from York University over public support for Palestine. These anxieties are warranted, especially in light of President Rhonda Lenton’s demand that three democratically elected student executive committees step down or risk the university withdrawing recognition of the unions as reprisals for issuing a joint Statement of Solidarity with Palestine.

CUPE 3903 supports the rights of academics, students, unionists, and activists to speak out against all forms of violence and oppression without fear of intimidation or reprisal. As stated through the Executive Committee endorsement of the Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, Racism, Colonialism & Censorship in Canada (ARC) Call To Action, we are committed to supporting and fully representing members who are targeted because of their scholarship, political work and community organizing, as well as holding the employer accountable to its duty to provide a safe workplace.

How CUPE 3903 can support workers

Over the last 30 years, CUPE 3903 has fought for many rights and privileges, which are protected by our Collective Agreements. These include a workplace that is free from discrimination and harassment! If you are facing reprisals, harassment, or discrimination, or believe you might be, get in touch with us as soon as you can. Nadia Kanani, our Equity Officer, can be reached at cupe3903equity@gmail.com. All conversations with Nadia are strictly confidential and don’t oblige you to take further steps. 

The union can help members with one or more of the following responses to discrimination and harassment: 

• Filing grievances (i.e. official complaint against the employer) on your behalf
• Filing complaints with the Centre for Human Rights, Equity and Inclusion
• Representing you in any disciplinary or other meeting in which you are being reprised for your activism or beliefs
• Supporting you in safety planning
• Supporting you through the workplace accommodations or paid leaves process if the harassment or discrimination negatively impact your ability to work
• Connecting you with community-based resources and supports

You don’t need to know what support(s) you need to start a conversation.   

One of the most important things about being in a union is that it’s never just you filing a complaint or facing reprisals alone. We stand in solidarity, and we fight against injustice together. 

Nominations are open for all positions on the Professional Development Fund Committee!

This committee has three elected representatives: the PDF Coordinator, and two PDF Representatives. The PDF Coordinator administers the PDF Fund throughout the contract year in accordance with established guidelines, and is the primary contact person for members. One of the Coordinator’s tasks is to chair four meetings to adjudicate the distribution of the PDF fund, and the Tuition Costs Fund. The PDF Coordinator is responsible for adjudicating the Tuition Cost Fund with the Director of the Teaching Commons. The PDF Coordinator is also responsible for the actual disbursement of funds and for the general upkeep of the PDF email account. The PDF Coordinator is also a member of the Teaching Commons Executive Board and is CUPE 3903’s primary and ongoing connection to the Teaching Commons. The representatives are elected for a one-year term at the November general meeting of the membership (GMM).

Honorarium for the PDF Coordinator: $2250, paid in three equal installments of $750 per funding cycle at an estimated time of 40 hours per cycle. Honorarium for the PDF Representatives: $600, paid out as $200 per meeting per position.

Nominations close on November 22 at 5 p.m.

Interested members should email VP Unit 1, Ali Gholami, at cupe3903vpu1@gmail.com.

Bargaining Team Report for the Week of Oct 30, 2023

Bargaining Team and membership discuss and approve proposals and a revised timeline, while the Job Stability Committee comes to a disappointing, if predictable end

This week, we did not have a bargaining meeting with the Employer;  nevertheless, the BT was super busy. Our subcommittees had a full week prepping and meeting to get the balance of our proposals ready for the membership (see below for details on the proposals). A few proposals remain to be finalized, largely we are waiting on already requested information from the Employer. At the GMM on October 31, we were able to present all those proposals to the membership, and get approval to bring them to the bargaining table on November 7!  The Oct. 31 GMM also included a discussion of the Employer’s Oct. 27 “Framework for Settlement” and of our revised timeline and plans for mobilization; please see below for further details. For Unit 2 folks, we did meet with the Employer on November 2, on the joint Job Stability Committee (JSC), which wrapped up this week with a whimper and no agreement–so far. 

Please note that due to unexpected circumstances unrelated to bargaining, there is the U1 BT vacancy. The nomination period is open as of Nov. 3! Please consider putting your name forward for this important work. Finally you can show your support for your bargaining team and see for yourself how bargaining works by coming out to our November meetings (see below for details and locations and/or links)Bargaining team meeting (Nov. 6 1- 3 pm, online; Nov. 7 1130-1230, hybrid), Bargaining next week (Nov. 7 1-5, hybrid).  See below for specific information for each meeting.

Proposals

Since we began meeting with the Employer in July, the bargaining team has been gradually presenting a number of all-units proposals, including equity proposals, and our crucial demands on wages and benefits, which we presented in August. To meet our self-imposed deadline in relation to larger bargaining timeline considerations, the BT presented 35 all- or multi- unit  proposals, as well as a number of Unit 1 and Unit 2 proposals at the October 31 GMM. described below. The few proposals still to come remain unfinished because the Employer has not provided us with information we requested months ago or, in the case of Unit 2 job stability programs, we were waiting to see if an agreement on a comprehensive job stability program could be reached at the final meeting of the JSC (see below for more on the JSC).

All/multi units proposals:

We are proposing automatic enrollment in benefits, new coverage for medical devices, hearing aids, and medical tests, and a new fund, modelled on the SASSF (Sexual Assault Survivors Support Fund), to support members experiencing racial discrimination, harassment, and violence.

Unit 1:  

The Bargaining Team presented several Unit 1-specific proposals: improvements to the fellowship and the minimum funding guarantee; offsets (against “clawbacks”); a minimum turnaround time for the grading of assignments, tests, and exams; protections of intellectual property; academic freedom and “mode of delivery;” and scholarships and awards that affect membership in the bargaining unit. These proposals were all approved by the membership and will be presented to the Employer on November 7. 

Unit 1 members clearly identified graduate funding and wages as major priorities in the bargaining surveys that we administered over the summer. As such, the Bargaining Team has developed a proposal on fellowship funding for domestic students that parallels our proposals on wages, Grant-in-Aid, and Graduate Financial Assistance: a 40% increase plus inflation indexation. In developing our proposal for increases to the international student fellowship, we wanted to ensure equity between domestic and international students (i.e., we wanted to make sure that both domestic and international students receive the same amount of “take-home” pay once tuition is deducted from the increased fellowship amount, approximately $2,100). In several proposals we have attempted to eliminate and reduce the frequency of clawbacks by protecting certain funds (e.g., increases to wages, funds, scholarships) from offsets and raising the thresholds at which the fellowship is clawed back (e.g., scholarships of $50,000 or more instead of scholarships of $15,000 or more). 

In addition to these monetary proposals, we also presented a handful of proposals related to workload and academic freedom. Our proposal on workload would ensure a minimum turnaround time of 14 calendar days for TAs to grade assignments, tests, and exams. This would facilitate a more reasonable pace of work for Unit 1 members. Our proposal on academic freedom would give Unit 1 members more control over the mode of delivery of teaching-related duties such as office hours.  

U2:

The Unit 2 members of the Bargaining team  presented the majority of our proposals, which have now been passed by the membership. These include proposals on overwork, querying, applicable prior experience (or APE) credit for participating in University committees and governing bodies, new language for the collective agreement on Nursing qualifications (and a letter of agreement on the same), extending incumbency on member-designed courses, language and references in the collective agreement for triggers for markers and graders in Offers of appointment, and finally proposals for retirees to continue with their existing level of benefits, as well as library and email access.

We will present all proposals approved on October 31 to the employer at our November 7 meeting (see below for more information on upcoming bargaining meetings). Members can find a copy of all of our proposals online. 

Wages and the Employer’s offer to all unions on campus

Due to Bill 124, all employers in the campus unions were unable to negotiate fair and just wage increases during the last few years of collective agreements. The last report goes into much further detail, about the “framework of settlement” that the Employer offered to us. In similar frameworks to ours, the Employer has released similar offers to the other unions on campus. It is too soon for the Cross Campus Alliance (CCA) to have a response to the Employer, but look in both this space and in general 3903’s website for both the statements of the CCA and further ways to get involved.

Bargaining Timeline and Mobilization of Membership

As of the October 31 GMM, the membership has also approved a new timeline that is this month we should be entering conciliation, and which means that next month should be both the redline and strike mandate vote.  

What this means for you, the membership, is that you need to come out to the both, we need to show the Employer that the time is now for us to make our collective agreement, and the only way to do that is for us to have the strongest mandate possible.

JSC update:

At our August 10 GMM, Unit 2 members voted, somewhat reluctantly, to agree to one final meeting of the Joint Job Stability Committee, which was then over a year past its deadline to come up with a new job stability program. That final meeting took place on November 2 with representatives and staff from 3903, Mae Nam who is legal counsel for 3903, the Employer, and the Mediator, Chris Albertyn. 3903 representatives on the JSC were also joined by U2 members of the bargaining team to look at the Employer’s latest proposal for job security and stability for Unit 2, alongside our own redrafted sections. 

In the process, we reviewed our positions on elements where we remain significantly apart from the Employer, came up with new approaches where possible, re-affirming what we see as essential to getting long-overdue predictability and living wages for our members. The significant areas of difference remain eligibility (the Employer wants to limit access to job stability to members doing Type 1 work, while the 3903 side remains clear that both parties agreed to work on stability for Unit 2 members, full stop), appointments (again, the Employer wants to frame job stability as related to departmental need for Type 1 work, while we reject such a narrowing of job stability), guaranteed work (the Employer is offering a range of 2.0 to 3.0 FCEs, while we are sticking with 3.0 FCEs as necessary for economic survival), the amount that would make for a fair severance when exiting the program, details of the continuation of the CSSP while the new job stability program is implemented, as well as the speed of the rollout of the overall program and Direct Entry for low-seniority members who are Racialized, Indigenous or belong to two or more Employment Equity groups. 

There was tremendous unanimity and good spirit of all those working on the 3903 side to get a deal finalized. Despite 3903 members having made it clear to the ER in advance that this would be the final meeting of the joint JSC and despite our willingness to continue working into the evening, members of the ER’s team refused to stick around to continue to hammer out an agreement. What this communicated to us is that the Employer’s side considers the personal engagements of one or two people on their side more important than job stability for close to a thousand of our members. While we are very disappointed and frustrated with this outcome, we are working on next steps that we will bring to the membership at the November 14 SGMM.

Get Involved! Upcoming Bargaining Meetings

We’re continuing with a busy month of bargaining. Our union practices open bargaining, meaning all meetings of the Bargaining Team—including our face-to-face meetings with the Employer’s bargaining team—are open to all members of CUPE 3903. All  members are encouraged to attend bargaining meetings (the regular weekly meetings and our meetings with the Employer). As members of CUPE 3903, you are free to come and go from our meetings with the ER as your schedules require: you don’t have to show up right at the start or stay until the end—but of course, if you can stay, please do!

Check the CUPE 3903 website’s calendar for any updates. 

Bargaining Meetings with the Employer

With the exception of November 30, this month’s bargaining meetings are taking place in a hybrid format. Join us in person in Kaneff Tower 519 (located just east of York Lanes) or online by registering in advance using the links below.

Tuesday Nov 7 – 1PM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkcOGgqzsvHt3dGL4IWirZ3ZdO934UuTMx 

Friday Nov 17 – 10AM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-ivrD0tHN1hit1wNSdYqT5RDaFTjg7v 

Friday Nov 24 – 10AM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-ivrD0tHN1hit1wNSdYqT5RDaFTjg7v 

Thursday Nov 30 – 1PM-5PM  (Online)

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMld-upqTwuGN3CFB1OHp3lgtdmgy2WYrIS 

Bargaining Team Meetings

Nov 6, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 13, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 20, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 27, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Upcoming 3903 Bargaining SGMM

We encourage members to participate in the SGMM on Bargaining, which are now HYBRID!  (For Zoom participation, you need to register in advance), in person: Location TBA.  Here’s the link to join the next bargaining team meeting (also shared on 3903’s website’s calendar):

Tuesday Nov.14, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Register here! 

Upcoming 3903 GMM

We encourage members to participate in the GMM, which as part of our bargaining process will obviously have updates about bargaining, but which also includes general union business, and which are now HYBRID!  (For Zoom participation, you need to register in advance), in person: Location TBA.  Here’s the link to join the next bargaining team meeting (also shared on 3903’s website’s calendar):

Friday Dec. 1, 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., 

 Register here!

Upcoming 3903 Bargaining Team and 3903 EXEC Meeting

As always, we encourage members to participate in our regular bargaining team meetings with 3903 EXEC (without the Employer). Here’s the link to join the next bargaining team/EXEC meeting (also shared on 3903’s website’s calendar):

Tuesday Nov. 21, 3:00-6:00 p.m.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86295371912?pwd=MUN6dEZieDBVaC95cEd1ZEV1WCtiQT09

Nominations to reopen for vacancies on the Bargaining Team and Executive Committee

There are currently two vacancies:
Bargaining Team: Unit 1 (1 vacancy)
Executive Committee: Secretary-Treasurer

Nominations for these positions will reopen Nov. 3 at 12:00 p.m.

The online NOMINATION FORM is available HERE; the form will close at the end of the nomination period (Nov 17, 2023 12:00 p.m.). For contested positions, the nomination period will be followed by two weeks of campaigning and Voting (through Simply Voting) will begin at the December GMM and will continue for five days. 

Additional Details:

• The traditional register and nomination form have been combined into a single electronic election nomination form, thus it is the only thing a nominee will need to fill out. A nominee will need to know the names and email address of two supporters, who need to be members in good standing. Upon submitting the nomination form, the supporters will be automatically contacted to endorse the nomination via a pre-populated supporter form (this form will disable at the close of the nomination period as well). Please note that some people have had the supporter form go to their Junk folder, so if you have agreed to support a candidate, please also check there for the email with the form.
• The nomination period will open at noon on Nov 3 and will close two weeks later on Nov 17 at noon.  The form will automatically disable at the close of the nomination period.
• Information concerning the campaigning period and electronic voting will be forthcoming.
• Should members have any accessibility concerns they should contact the EOs at cupe3903eo@gmail.com, or the Equity Officer at cupe3903equity@gmail.com

Bargaining Team is met with a wage and funds counter-proposal in the form of a framework to settle

Bargaining Team Report for the Week of Oct 23, 2023

This week the bargaining team (BT) met at our regular weekly meeting on Monday Oct. 23. The BT discussed new Equity proposals and continued working towards our goal to have all or almost all remaining proposals presented at the GMM on October 31, to then be presented on November 7 to the employer.

Oct. 27 was a bargaining day. The day commenced with the Employer bringing forward a counter-proposal on wages and funds in the form of a “Memorandum of Settlement for a Renewal Collect Agreement” in which they proposed an 11% cumulative wage increase for all three units along with a 1% increase for certain funds in the next CA. 

This counter-proposal came as something of a surprise since the Employer had been withholding any counters on monetary proposals for two months, despite increasing pressure from multiple unions on campus to bargain fair wages after the unconstitutional Bill 124 was struck down. Representatives of all unions who are part of the Cross-Campus Alliance, including members of our bargaining team, heard a presentation on the university’s financial standing on October 23. We heard that the administration’s significant reliance on international student fees, and the volatility of international student enrollment has diminished the university’s revenues, and that there has been no contingency planning to uphold the wage reopener clauses the Employer negotiated with all unions that bargained under Bill 124. 

Subsequent to this presentation, when we met on October 27, the employer presented their wage and funds counter-proposal by way of a framework for settlement. We are told that this incomplete package will be filled out with further proposals by November 17, 2023.

This framework proposes a 3% retroactive increase for members who worked in the 2022-23 school year, to be paid to members who are still employees at the date of ratification. This means that any members who worked from 2020-22 will not be retroactively compensated for that work nor will any members who no longer hold a contract when the new collective agreement is ratified. While the Employer confirmed that this 3% retroactive increase would raise the floor that the next collective agreement’s wage increases would build upon, we are concerned about how many members would be deemed ineligible to benefit from even this modest increase. Moreover, their counter-proposal would only provide retroactive pay for one of three years of the period where our members’ wages were constrained by the unconstitutional Bill 124.

On August 29, we presented a wage proposal to the Employer that included three pieces: retroactive increases for the Bill 124 era, increases over the next collective agreement, and inflation indexation. For the retroactive piece, we proposed increases of 6% per year, over and above the 1% increases stipulated in the 2020–2023 collective agreement. In addition, we proposed a 7% increase in years one and two of the next CA. In year three, we proposed an increase of 5% or the rate of inflation for the Greater Toronto Area, whichever was higher. Furthermore, we proposed that wages be indexed to inflation in this manner in subsequent years.

The Employer proposed wage increases of 3%, 2.5%, and 2% over the three years of the 2023-2026 collective agreement. These increases would build upon the 3% retroactive increase for 2022-23, which means that the Employer’s proposal amounts to a cumulative wage increase of 11.01%. Our membership experienced a loss of real wages of 10.57% over the period of 2020 to 2023. An 11.01% cumulative wage increase would allow us to scarcely break even as of 2023 (if it was implemented immediately) and does not factor in current and future inflation. With the average annual rate of inflation for 2023 hovering around 3.8%, the Bank of Canada projects an average annual rate of inflation of 3.5% over the next year, and decreasing to a rate of 2% by 2025. Given these projections of sustained higher-than-normal inflation, the Employer’s wage counter-proposal would further erode the real wages of our membership. The Employer also proposed a mere 1% increase to only certain funds and no increases or improvements to our Sun Life health benefits; any funds or benefits that are not included in the wage settlement framework would not be improved or increased in the next collective agreement. 

In further contrast to our initial wage proposal, the employer does not want to entertain inflation indexation, stating that inflation is too volatile to plan for in budgeting. As such, the Employer is willing to pay inadequate wages to our bargaining units in order to avoid changes to their bottom line. 

This counter-proposal is simply inadequate given what we have heard about the hardships our members have been experiencing to cover rent, food, and other necessities, as well as to afford services essential to wellbeing. And 3903 members are not alone in finding it hard to survive on York pay, or in their determination to fight for fair wages: we have heard similar struggles and strong will from the members of the Cross-Campus Alliance 

Timeline

The BT has been working on a revised timeline to better reflect the current status of bargaining. This will be shared with the membership at the GMM on October 31.

Get Involved! Upcoming Bargaining Meetings

We’re continuing with a busy month of bargaining. In keeping with the principle of open bargaining, all members are encouraged to attend bargaining meetings (the regular weekly meetings and our meetings with the Employer). You can see more details about that and other meetings below, and we want members to know you are free to come and go from our meetings with the ER as your schedules require: you don’t have to show up right at the start or stay until the end—but of course, if you can stay, please do!

Check the CUPE 3903 website’s calendar for any updates. 

Bargaining Meetings with the Employer

This month’s bargaining meetings are taking place in a hybrid format. Join us in person in Kaneff Tower 512 (located just east of York Lanes) or online by registering in advance using the links below.

Tuesday Nov 7 – 1PM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkcOGgqzsvHt3dGL4IWirZ3ZdO934UuTMx 

Friday Nov 17 – 10AM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-ivrD0tHN1hit1wNSdYqT5RDaFTjg7v 

Friday Nov 24 – 10AM-5PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-ivrD0tHN1hit1wNSdYqT5RDaFTjg7v 

Thursday Nov 30 – 1PM-5PM  (Online)

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMld-upqTwuGN3CFB1OHp3lgtdmgy2WYrIS 

Bargaining Team Meetings

Oct 30, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84211348026?pwd=V2lwYnpMbG1VdmRBWHB5bHhqK3Y0UT09

Nov 6, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 13, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 20, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

Nov 27, 2023 1:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09 

General Membership Meetings

October GMM

Oct 31, 2:00-5:00 https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcuyrqT0pE912bq-UA66a0STPK0nosG78 

Accessibility of Bargaining Meetings 

For the regular bargaining team meetings, Zoom captions will be enabled. For the bargaining meetings with the Employer, CART will be available. If you require ASL interpretation or reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care or have any other accommodation requests, please contact our Equity Officer, Nadia Kanani, at cupe3903equity@gmail.com.

Due to the high demand for ASL interpreters, we encourage members to provide, when possible, two weeks’ notice if ASL interpretation is required.

Proposal Exchange Continues, Union Presses Employer on GAT Fund

Bargaining Team Report for the Week of Oct 16, 2023

Following our regular weekly prep meeting on Monday and a joint Bargaining Team (BT)-Executive meeting on Tuesday, we met with the Employer on Wednesday, October 18. We presented a range of proposals related to the Unit 3 Graduate Assistant Training Fund, severance for contract faculty, childcare, the grievance process, and the printing and circulation of collective agreements. The Employer presented a counter-proposal on pregnancy leave, and the union responded on discipline. 

U3 GAT Fund Proposal; Policy Grievance Filed on Non-Existent Surcharge

The Bargaining Team presented a Unit 3 proposal to increase the number of grants available under the Graduate Assistant Training Fund (GATF), as well as expanding who can access these grants to include organized research units and other hiring units. The GATF was created to incentivize the hiring of GAs in 2018 and renewed in 2021. Despite some bumps in the road, it is doing just that. Consequently, we also proposed to make it a permanent part of the collective agreement. 

On October 17, CUPE 3903 filed a policy grievance relating to York’s mismanagement of the GATF. The employer has been claiming since 2016 that hiring a GA accrues an 80% benefits surcharge, i.e. if a principal investigator wants to hire a member to work on their project, they need to pay not only the cost of that contract but an additional 80%. This has been a strike issue in past rounds, and we have bargained to increase the GATF to offset the alleged surcharge in 2021. This round of bargaining, the Employer revealed that, to date, they have never deducted the benefits surcharge. This means that some faculty members have received GATF grants in excess of the cost of hiring a GA. That the benefits surcharge has never actually existed raises serious questions about the Employer’s good faith bargaining. The bargaining team gave the employer ample time to give us answers about where the money has gone; as they consistently refused to give us clear answers, the union filed a policy grievance. 

Since the Employer is apparently willing to fund above and beyond the cost of hiring a GA, we believe much more of these funds can go toward increasing the number of GA positions rather than paying for an imaginary benefits surcharge. 

To explain why the GATF is a hot-button issue this round and part of a broader pattern of the Employer’s dishonest, union-busting behaviour with regards to Unit 3, we will be publishing a detailed history of Unit 3 in the near future. Stay tuned! 

First U2 Proposal on Severance, More Unit-Specific Proposals to Come

While Unit 3 has been leading the charge thus far in bringing unit-specific proposals to the bargaining table, this week Unit 2 brought its first proposal on severance. This proposal would make it so that leaves of absence related to a Human Rights Code-based ground do not count against members in affecting their eligibility for severance. 

While Unit 2 proposals have been delayed as a result of uncertainties tied to the Job Stability Committee, the Committee’s final meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 2nd, and we hope that this meeting will provide some closure and clarify the Bargaining Team’s strategy related to job stability. Unit 1 is also developing proposals related to the fellowship and minimum funding guarantee.

The Bargaining Team plans to present as many unit-specific proposals to the membership at the October 31 GMM as we can, with the goal of bringing them to the bargaining table in November. 

All-Units Proposals on Childcare, Grievances, and the Circulation of the CA

As a follow up to our childcare fund proposal from August, the Bargaining Team presented a proposal aimed at increasing funding for the two on-campus childcare centres, the York Co-operative Day Care Centre and the Student Centre Childcare Facility (known as the Lee Wiggins Childcare Centre). We argued that this funding needs to increase as the cost of childcare has gone up while the wages of workers at the centres has stagnated and dropped below what other childcare centres pay their workers. 

In response to this fact, the Employer claimed that this is a reflection of the priorities of the union over recent rounds of bargaining. Pushing back on this, we argued that the unconstitutional limits of Bill 124, a mere 1% increase over the total value of the collective agreement, imposed constraints on our capacity to deliver necessary funds to vital services — something we expect to be corrected in the near future. Throughout this round, the Employer has consistently downplayed the effects of Bill 124 while scrutinizing CUPE 3903’s decisions to prioritize its most vulnerable members, such as our decision to significantly increase the Ways and Means Fund in the last round.

We presented two counter-proposals, one on the grievance procedure and one on the printing and dissemination of the collective agreements. With regards to the grievance procedure, we proposed that in the case of grievances on harassment, discrimination, and disability, members should be granted significantly more time to file the grievance and to make the decision to take the grievance to arbitration.

With regards to printing the collective agreements, we proposed language that would require the Employer to bear half the cost of translating the collective agreements into French and require them to include an electronic version of the CA in each Offer of Appointment (or equivalent). The Employer seemed generally friendly to the proposal on electronically distributing the collective agreements. 

As a follow up to the many counter-proposals we presented at the October 11 meeting with the Employer, at the most recent meeting we took the opportunity to explicitly reject the Employer’s proposal on Article 8 (Discipline). As we have heard loud and clear from our membership, we have zero interest in expanding the Employer’s powers to discipline CUPE 3903 members. 

New Employer Proposal Sparks Debate Over Discrepancies between Pregnancy, Parental, and Adoption Leaves

The Employer presented a proposal on pregnancy leave, which aimed at updating language to be more gender inclusive (e.g., changing “maternity” to “pregnancy”) and reflective of different kinds of families (e.g., changing “two employees assuming caregiver responsibility” to “more than one employee”). While we are supportive of language that reflects the diversity of our membership, in terms of sexuality, gender, and family structure, we pushed the Employer to take this further. 

Specifically, we highlighted discrepancies in the paid and unpaid leave afforded to pregnancy (17 weeks paid, 61 weeks unpaid) leave versus parental and adoption leaves (12 weeks paid, 51 weeks unpaid). If the Employer wishes to adopt policies that meet the needs of different kinds of families, then at the very least it could bring up all parental leaves to the same minimum level. 

The Employer responded by arguing that this discrepancy reflects the standard employment insurance (EI) regime as reflected in the Employment Standards Act. We argued that to justify this choice in terms of the EI regime is selective and inconsistent since Unit 1 and 3 members are not even eligible for EI. Moreover, we argued that just because a policy is practiced by the government does not make it adequate to our members or reflective of the needs of different family structures. That a parent requires time away from work to care for an infant is true regardless of whether the parent was the same person who was pregnant with that infant. 

 Get Involved! Upcoming Bargaining Meetings

We’re continuing with a busy month of bargaining. In keeping with the principle of open bargaining, all members are encouraged to attend bargaining meetings (the regular weekly meetings and our meetings with the Employer). You can see more details about that and other meetings below, and we want members to know you are free to come and go from our meetings with the ER as your schedules require: you don’t have to show up right at the start or stay until the end—but of course, if you can stay, please do!

Check the CUPE 3903 website’s calendar for any updates. 

Bargaining Meetings with the Employer

This month’s bargaining meetings are taking place in a hybrid format. Join us in person in Kaneff Tower 512 (located just east of York Lanes) or online by registering in advance using the links below.

Oct 27, 2023, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM (in-person location TBD)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctfu2tqDsjE9cSFrzy6vffqq_9hKXNlNJm

Bargaining Team Meetings

Oct 30, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84211348026?pwd=V2lwYnpMbG1VdmRBWHB5bHhqK3Y0UT09

Nov 6, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09

Nov 13, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09

Nov 20, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09

Nov 27, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86836769208?pwd=RUFjUWRSVHB4bi9Odi9wRjVDeFJXdz09

General Membership Meetings

October GMM

Oct 31, 2:00-5:00 https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcuyrqT0pE912bq-UA66a0STPK0nosG78 

Accessibility of Bargaining Meetings 

For the regular bargaining team meetings, Zoom captions will be enabled. For the bargaining meetings with the Employer, CART will be available. If you require ASL interpretation or reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care or have any other accommodation requests, please contact our Equity Officer, Nadia Kanani, at cupe3903equity@gmail.com.

Due to the high demand for ASL interpreters, we encourage members to provide, when possible, two weeks’ notice if ASL interpretation is required.

The Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, Racism, Colonialism & Censorship in Canada (ARC) Call To Action & Emergency Statement on Academic Freedom and Critical Scholarship. 

The executive of CUPE 3903 share the Academic Alliance Against Antisemitism, Racism, Colonialism & Censorship in Canada’s (ARC) concerns about the widespread suppression of critical speech and academic freedom on Palestine and Israel in the past week not only in Canada, but across much of the West. We are concerned that our university administrations are ill-equipped to address the pressures being placed on them by various third parties (including governments, the media, and organizations) to suppress academic freedom. These concerns have reached critical levels with York University’s President Rhonda Lenton demanding that three democratically elected student executives committees step down or risk the university administration withdrawing recognition of the unions as reprisals for a joint statement the student unions made supporting Palestine.

CUPE 3903 condemns this egregious overreach by the University administration, which undermines the democratic integrity of the student unions and harshly punishes critical decolonial student voices. CUPE 3903 supports the rights of academics, students, unionists and activists to speak out against all forms of violence and oppression without fear of intimidation or reprisal. We echo ARC in demanding that universities must reject the censorship of critical and engaged scholarship on Israel and Palestine that effectively serve to undermine the anti-racist and decolonization efforts they claim to support. 

We reiterate our on-going demands from our Statement of Solidarity with Palestine and Student Activists that the university administration ceases their intimidation of student and worker activists, and protect students and workers from external intimidations. That the University commits to no reprisals or disciplinary actions for students and workers showing solidarity with Palestine. And, that they divest from weapons and arms manufacturing, an industry that directly sustains further violence against Palestinians.

We are joining the ARC in calling on all faculty associations, contract faculty unions, as well as teaching and research assistant unions across the country to join us in taking a proactive stance and immediately pass the following motions: 

CUPE 3903 unequivocally supports the academic freedom of its members. This freedom includes the right to pursue research and open inquiry in an honest search for knowledge that is free from institutional censorship, including that of the government. 

CUPE 3903 acknowledges that the freedom from political and institutional censure is especially critical at times of war and conflict where scholarly voices are an important corrective to widespread disinformation campaigns.  

CUPE 3903 supports the anti-racist and decolonial initiatives in Canadian educational institutions and opposes anti-Palestinian racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia along with all forms of racism and hatred. We will strive to ensure our members are free from experiencing bigotry and hate in our classrooms and campuses. 

CUPE 3903 is committed to protecting the security and safety of all scholars who are targeted because of their scholarship and political work. We call upon our institutions to implement measures to safeguard our members.

CUPE 3903 acknowledges that targeted attacks against scholars who support the Palestinian struggle have a chilling effect on the academic freedom of our members in the classroom, in their research, and in campus politics more broadly. These repressive tactics must be challenged, and scholars must be free from all forms of recrimination and harassment that may occur due to the nature of their research.

We urge everyone to please read the ARC’s full statement here. 

Defending Member Rights and Finalizing Our Proposals Package

Bargaining Team Report for the Week of Oct 10–13

The Bargaining Team was busy this week, finalizing several new proposals and counterproposals and meeting with the Employer. While we’ve found some common ground with the Employer on the issue of updating some of the language of our collective agreements for the sake of clarity and to reflect actual practices, we refused (and will continue to refuse) attempts by the Employer to create a chilly or hostile work environment for our members. 

Defending Employee Over Management Rights!

As we’ve previously noted in our reports from July 31 and September 4, many of the Employer’s proposals focus on expanding management rights at the expense of our members in areas including grievances, employee evaluations, and discipline. During bargaining this week, the BT presented counterproposals on several of these problematic proposals. (A complete list of all proposals presented so far by both sides is available on the CUPE 3903 website under bargaining.) We largely accepted Employer proposals to change the language of the CAs to recognize the fact that job applications are now overwhelmingly submitted online, but we counterproposed language to allow Unit 2 members to continue to submit applications by hand and flatly rejected an Employer attempt to impose of two-week deadline for Unit 1 members to return an offer of employment. (See proposals 58 and 56, respectively, in our proposals’ document.) 

We further rejected a proposal that would make it easier to initiate the disciplinary process (Article 8)—a process that can have serious adverse effects on a member’s employment. Currently, a documented complaint is required to initiate the disciplinary process against a member—and we are seeking to introduce language that the Employer must provide evidence before the first meeting (see proposal 42); the Employer has proposed that an ill-defined “concern” on the part of a chair or director of a hiring unit could be grounds for beginning this process. Similarly, we rejected a proposal to deprive Unit 1 & 2 members of their right to choose their own evaluator if they are subjected to a teaching evaluation (per Article 13)—another process that can end by adversely affecting members’ careers (see proposal 52).

We also rejected an Employer proposal to make student evaluations for courses taught by contract faculty (Unit 2) members publicly available to students (see proposal 54). The Employer presented this change as an attempt to put our members on par with tenured faculty, whose student evaluations are already shared with students. We countered that the precarious job security of CUPE faculty in comparison to YUFA means that the sharing of such evaluations—with their well-documented biases based on gender, race, ethnicity, and even attractiveness—would place our already precariously-employed members at much (much!) greater risk of the loss or reduction of work than is the case for tenured faculty.

Our Emphasis on Equity Continues

Continuing our emphasis on equity issues in this round of bargaining, we presented the Employer with additional equity proposals on October 11. During the last round of bargaining, our BT fought hard to have more useful data on employment equity embedded in our collective agreements to ensure meaningful progress is being made in meeting representation thresholds of Employment Equity Groups. To our previously presented proposals, we added this week a proposal to establish a representation threshold for persons with disabilities. (Although the Employer claimed in the 2022–21 round of bargaining that the data to set such a threshold was not available in Statistics Canada data for either Toronto or Canada as a whole, the Employer’s own report has since contradicted this position; see especially pages 22 through 25 of the linked Employment Equity Report.) 

In addition, to ensure the Employer makes use of the latest available data in calculating the underrepresentation of Employment Equity Groups, we also proposed a Letter of Understanding (proposal 5) between the Union and the Employer that will require the Employer to apply the 2021 census data (set to be released publicly on January 1, 2024) to the relevant provision of our collective agreements that cover the calculations of underrepresentation thresholds (Articles 5.03.6 of the Unit 1, 2, & 3 collective agreements and 12.04.1 (ii) and 12.04.2 of the Unit 2 Collective Agreement). The Employment Equity Committee will rely on these new representation thresholds to assess the success of Employment Equity programs and initiatives (see proposals 3 and 4). 

We also continued to push the Employer to update the Employment Equity Survey that the Employer sends to our members. The Employer has resisted making changes that our Union has insisted repeatedly are necessary to make the survey more useful for employment equity purposes (for example, allowing for the disaggregation of data based on how people self-identify in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and so on), and to changing the language in questions so that people see themselves reflected in descriptions of gender, sexuality, racialization, disability, and so on.

Members Approve New Bargaining Proposals at the October 12 SGMM

The day after bargaining, the BT presented a bargaining update and new proposals to members at another of the Special General Membership Meetings (SGMMs) that the Union has been required to hold since bargaining began. Members of Unit 3 approved proposals to double the number of  GATF (Graduate Assistant Training Fund) grants from forty to eighty, provide a second opportunity each year for the hiring of GAs (Graduate Assistants), and enshrine language in the Collective Agreement that incentivizes the hiring of GAs. Since the Employer succeeded in drastically reducing the membership of Unit 3 in 2017–18, the Union has been fighting to protect and expand graduate assistantships, and the proposals approved this week continue that work.

To further ensure our members continue to have access to affordable, high-quality childcare, the SGMM approved a proposal to significantly increase funding to the two on-campus childcare centres (Lee Wiggins and the Co-Op) used by our members. (This proposal supplements our previous childcare proposal to increase the Childcare Fund, which is a union-administered fund that provides direct payments to members to subsidize childcare costs.)

Additional Proposals to Be Presented at the October 31 GMM

We are working hard to put as many of our proposals as possible before the membership at the next GMM on October 31. Significantly, the Employer’s bargaining team has flatly stated that it will not meaningfully engage with our monetary proposals—including the wage demands that our membership has indicated are a priority—until all proposals the Employer considers to be monetary (their definition is more expansive than ours!) have been dealt with. Unit 3 proposals are all but complete, and the Unit 1 and Unit 2 caucuses of the Bargaining Team are meeting frequently together and with  3903 staff to hammer out the details of proposals on the remaining issues that our members have identified as important to address in this round of bargaining. 

In the case of Unit 2, this task has been complicated by the fact that we are still awaiting a final meeting, with the mediator, of the joint Job Stability Committee that has been meeting with the Employer since the last round of bargaining wrapped up. Until that meeting happens (likely sometime in November) and we have clarity about whether any job stability program(s) will result from it, we can’t know what job stability proposals we may still need to present at the bargaining table. 

Nevertheless, the October 31 GMM will consider important new proposals we intend to present to the Employer in November. Join us to have your say!

Get Involved! Upcoming Bargaining Meetings

We’re continuing with a busy month of bargaining. In keeping with the principle of open bargaining, all members are encouraged to attend bargaining meetings (the regular weekly meetings and our meetings with the Employer). You can see more details about that and other meetings below, and we want members to know you are free to come and go from our meetings with the ER as your schedules require: you don’t have to show up right at the start or stay until the end—but of course, if you can stay, please do!

Check the CUPE 3903 website’s calendar for any updates. 

Bargaining Meetings with the Employer

This month’s bargaining meetings are taking place in a hybrid format. Join us in person in Kaneff Tower 512 (located just east of York Lanes) or online by registering in advance using the links below.

Oct 18, 2023, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM (in-person location TBD)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItc-6grTsvHNZScc2vXOTH0Qpjqh398mhs

Oct 27, 2023, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM (in-person location TBD)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZctfu2tqDsjE9cSFrzy6vffqq_9hKXNlNJm

Bargaining Team Meetings

Oct 16, 2023, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83749454936?pwd=dHE4R1RIeUtBUExDUDIzTmdaSlNVZz09

Oct 17, 2023, 3:00–6:00 PM Joint meeting of the Bargaining Team and Executive Committee

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89314435630?pwd=cEtUbWt5SXVZTVc0ZHd1ckI1dkVNQT09  

Oct 23, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82680781398?pwd=d1J2Zzh2VXBYZ1VjdFpUQ0lTSkZpUT09

Oct 30, 2023 01:00–3:00 PM

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84211348026?pwd=V2lwYnpMbG1VdmRBWHB5bHhqK3Y0UT09

General Membership Meetings

October GMM

Oct 31, 2:00-5:00 https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvcuyrqT0pE912bq-UA66a0STPK0nosG78 

Accessibility of Bargaining Meetings 

For the regular bargaining team meetings, Zoom captions will be enabled. For the bargaining meetings with the Employer, CART will be available. If you require ASL interpretation or reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care or have any other accommodation requests, please contact our Equity Officer, Nadia Kanani, at cupe3903equity@gmail.com.

Due to the high demand for ASL interpreters, we encourage members to provide, when possible, two weeks’ notice if ASL interpretation is required.

Statement of Solidarity with Palestine and Student Activists

The executive of CUPE 3903, guided by membership at the October 12th SGMM, extends our deepest sympathies to the families, friends, and community members grieving the violence and tragic loss of thousands of human lives in Palestine and Israel. It is with a commitment to the sanctity of human life and social justice that we write this letter of support for Palestine, condemning the genocidal violence happening in Gaza and urgently calling for an immediate end to it. 

Home to more than 2.3 million people, Gaza has been under an unrelenting land, sea, and air blockade since 2007. Last week, Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza, unleashing over 6,000 bombs in six days. This included white phosphorous bombs that cause continued suffering through severe burns and organ failure. This devastation has wiped out entire families and neighbourhoods, destroyed universities, and has targeted hospitals and other places of refuge. All vital services including electricity, water, food and medicine remain cut off to Gaza. We decry this siege as an intentional widespread and systematic attack on the Palestinian civilian population. 

Beginning with the violent Nakba of 1948, when militias and then the newly-formed Israeli army destroyed more than 500 Palestinian villages and towns, killing thousands and uprooting more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land, there has been sustained Israeli state-sanctioned violence against Palestinians. We echo the statement recently made by Jewish members of Showing up for Racial Justice – Toronto, that the “end to this horrific violence will only be achieved through an end to Israeli apartheid and to all ongoing systemic aggressions towards Palestinian people.” 

Following from our ongoing support for the Palestinian Civil Society call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions, we also echo the demands from unions, academics, and other civil society organizations in Palestine for:

1. An immediate ceasefire
2. Humanitarian aid into Gaza
3. UN protection for Palestinians in Gaza
4. Halting the arms trade with Israel, as well as all funding and military research

We make these calls in light of the increasing intimidation and silencing of pro-Palestinian voices in Canada. As students and workers in Canada, we remain dedicated to fighting against Canada’s own settler-colonial violence. We vehemently reject the conflation of Palestinian solidarity with violence, terrorism, or anti-Semitism. This conflation works to obscure and maintain the devastating state-sanctioned violence against Palestinians as well as embolden those who are engaging in Islamophobic attacks. 

Unfortunately, the administration at York University has made it clear that there is no space on campus to organize around these demands, or those fought for by the global movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions. Last week, York University’s administration condemned student unions who showed support for Palestine and who called for an end to settler-colonial violence. CUPE 3903 unequivocally condemns this violation of our rights as academics, students and union members. The silencing of discussion on Israeli apartheid by York University administration is nothing new and we must stand together to refuse this silencing and repression. We will continue to support other students, unionists, activists, and scholars who stand against apartheid, genocide, and state-sanctioned violence.

We call upon the York University administration to immediately:

1. Cease their intimidation of student and worker activists, and protect students and workers from external intimidations.
2. Commit to no reprisals or disciplinary actions for students and workers showing solidarity with Palestine.
3. Divest from weapons and arms manufacturing, and end support for Israeli apartheid.

We will not be silenced as Israel escalates its collective punishment of Palestinian civilians.

Resources:

https://bdsmovement.net/resources

https://www.labourforpalestine.com/resources

https://www.faculty4palestine.ca/

https://stopthewall.org/

Nominations Open for Interim Secretary-Treasurer

The position of Secretary-Treasurer has become vacant due to resignation and needs to be filled by November 1. The Executive Committee has decided to open nominations for a candidate to be pro-temmed (temporarily appointed) at the October 26 Executive Committee Meeting, as per Article 14 V. (b) of the bylaws. Nominations for a full by-election will open in November.

Any member in good standing is eligible to hold this position. For more information or to nominate yourself for the position, please email Chairperson Stephanie Latella at
cupe3903chairperson@gmail.com by noon on October 26.