The York Board of Governors (BoG) held a closed meeting on May 4^th to secretly vote on the reappointment of Rhonda Lenton as York University’s President. The vote was carried out despite serious concerns voiced by students, staff and faculty about Lenton’s reappointment, and taken without any regard for meaningful consultation within the community.

The BoG, an unelected body composed of individuals who predominantly hail from the corporate sector, continues to remain unaccountable to any official body at York University. An unelected body voted behind closed doors to secretly reappoint the York President. Let. That. Sink. In. The Chair, Paul Tsaparis, a former corporate CEO from Hewlett-Packard, steamrolled the entire process, brazenly defying one of the university’s most cherished practises: democratic procedure. He disallowed debate on such an important matter, and proceeded to announce their handpicked appointee to the flabbergasted attendees. Professing several times to have carried out community consultations, yet unable to substantiate where and how, he lauded Lenton’s exemplary work on equity issues before declaring the reappointment. Yet, when the expected challenges to this antidemocratic proceeding started to roll in, the host immediately closed off the Zoom chat. It was obvious that their hurried move anticipated many challenges, and debate was swiftly shut down to avert any scrutiny of the consultative process or Tsaparis’ incredible declaratives. Shutting down the democratic process means that the current BoG deems itself to be above all accountability to the York community, who they claim to value.

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The following media release was issued by the York University Graduate Students’ Association to inform the York community about the anti-democratic reinstatement of Rhonda Lenton. What is the legitimacy of the Board of Governors? We will need to hold this obsolete institution, an atrophied relic of British imperial rule, to account.

Amidst anti-Black racism scandal, York U Board of Governors re-appoints President Lenton

TORONTO (May 5, 2021) – York University’s Board of Governors voted on May 4 to re-appoint President Rhonda Lenton for another five-year term, despite a growing scandal involving systemic anti-Black racism at the highest levels of the institution.

Weeks before the vote, Board members received hundreds of email messages and phone calls regarding President Lenton’s handling of a long-standing complaint by Dr. Aimé Avolonto, a Black professor of French Studies at York’s Glendon College, whose allegations of anti-Black racism were profiled in The Fifth Estate documentary “Black on campus” on February 25 and during a press conference on April 8. Prof. Avolonto has detailed his allegations in a public document, “Letter from a Black colleague.”

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Nominations for two Elections Officers have been reopened. These positions will be acclaimed or elected at the May 31st General Membership Meeting (GMM).

The committees listed below also still have vacancies following the April GMM and nominations have again reopened. Interested members should email VP Unit 1, Chris Little to nominate themselves by 5pm on Sunday May 23rd. More information on committee responsibilities can be found on the Committees page, or by emailing Chris. Any position with more nominations than vacancies will proceed to an election at the May 31st GMM.

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3903 cordially welcomes our new staff representative, Julian Arend! Julian has been a long standing member of 3903 and now joins our local as a staff member. We look forward to working with him! Julian will begin on Monday, May 10th. We thank the Hiring Committee for their work to navigate hiring in the midst of the pandemic.

We will be hosting a Meet n’ Greet for Julian on Thursday, May 13th at 2pm. Feel free to pop in to say hello. The Zoom meeting link is here.

On Tuesday, April 27, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team held the first conciliation meeting with the co-conciliators Hanane Benzidane and Greg Long. We would like to thank members in the room for attending as observers, as per our open bargaining practice.

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Hope everyone will join the May Day Rally on Saturday! Happy May Day to All!

Join the rally here: tinyurl.com/56bbk86a

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Back in January, the members of our union local unanimously voted in favour of a motion demanding that the Ontario government legislate paid sick days for all. We’ve now entered a devastating third wave of this pandemic, and frontline workers still don’t have access to paid sick days in this province as the Conservatives continue to ignore public health advice.

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On Thursday, April 22, the Bargaining Team met with the Employer and presented a series of proposals, including the monetary proposals that were passed by our membership at the SGMM on April 16. The Employer also presented a few new proposals.

CUPE 3903 Proposals

The Bargaining Team’s proposals (which can be seen here, dated ‘April 21’) were primarily about adding definite amounts to several funds of which we had previously indicated we would be asking for an increase. The Bargaining Team passed-back a proposal (proposal 28) relating to Unit 1 TA contract deadlines, in which we agreed with the Employer’s request for acceptance deadlines on the condition that the Employer would agree to penalties for late contracts. The Bargaining Team also put forward a response (proposal 53) to the issue of equity hiring for Unit 1 ticketed course directorships, which emphasizes a fair distribution of tickets across the Unit as well as increased hiring targets for equity seeking groups.

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On Monday April 26th, the Bargaining Team sent a letter to Dan Bradshaw, Assistant Vice President Labour Relations (and lead negotiator for the Employer), addressing the Employer’s responses to our proposals on employment equity and proposed steps to address systemic inequities at York University. You can read the full letter below.

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As CUPE 3903 bargains a new collective agreement, we’re inviting you to share your experience teaching and studying at York. Have you been able to access good teaching and research supports in your department and program of study? Tell us how you’ve managed your academic life this past year surviving the global pandemic. Has the union helped you cope with your financial burdens through its funding programs? Where would you like to see changes and improvements occur? Tell us what’s bubbling up inside and let your voice be heard!

We want to hear what 3903 members have to say, and we’re inviting you to submit a short video essay to showcase on our website and social media channels (Facebook, Twitter & YouTube). You can make it yourself or collaborate with colleagues. Let us know:

i) Why you became an academic and MA/PhD Student
ii) Your account of work and research conditions at York (expectations met and not met)
iii) Any interactions or experiences with the union or its services and supports
iv) What you want to see in the near future

Length: 1–2 min.
Deadline: May 17, 2021
For more information and to submit your video contact: cupe3903comms@gmail.com