On Friday, October 30, the CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (BT) representing Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants, Marker/Graders, Lab Assistants, Tutors), Unit 2 (Contract Faculty), and Unit 3 (Graduate and Research Assistants) met with the Employer for the first time to discuss bargaining content. The meeting took place online on Zoom between 2pm-5pm. Prior to this meeting with the employer, the BT held a meeting on Zoom between 10am-1pm.

At this first bargaining meeting, present for the employer were Dan Bradshaw, (Assistant Vice-President, Faculty Relations), Diane Pestrin (Senior Advisor, Faculty Relations), Gerald Audette (Professor, Chemistry Department), Lyndon Martin (Vice-Provost Academic, Professor, Faculty of Education), Ran Lewin (Assistant Vice-President, Budgets and Asset Management), Leanne De Filippis (Senior Counsel, Labour & Employment), Kate McPherson (Associate Dean, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies) and Patrick Banville (Executive Officer, Faculty of Graduate Studies). The Employer’s lead negotiator is Dan Bradshaw.

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On October 30, the Bargaining Team will meet with the Employer for the first time to discuss bargaining content. The Employer had indicated that they would like to discuss equity and job security, but has not provided further details. The Bargaining Team will be discussing scheduling logistics and other relevant process questions with respect to expedited bargaining.

The meeting with the Employer will be held online on Zoom, between 2-5pm. The Bargaining Team will be meeting at 10am-1pm, prior to the meeting with the Employer. Please come to the bargaining meeting and show support for the Bargaining Team! Members’ presence shows the Employer that we take bargaining seriously.

CUPE 3903 operates under the principle of open bargaining. This means that all members are encouraged to attend any and all bargaining meetings to observe, pass notes to the Bargaining Team, and participate in Bargaining Team caucuses. In order to ensure meeting security, the Zoom link to the meeting will be provided once members register for the meeting.

To register, please use this registration link.

For more information, visit the Bargaining tab. The Bargaining Team can be reached at 3903bargaining@gmail.com.

Are you someone who can lead a self-care workshop?

The Trans Feminist Action Caucus Group is looking for facilitators to organize and lead a workshop on self-care on the week of November 23rd 2020, following Trans Day of Remembrance (TDOR) (Nov. 20)

What do we mean by self-care?
Self-care: what we do or don’t do to take care of our physical, emotional, & mental well-being. Acknowledging our greatest harms are structural: capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism, & disablism.

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The 3903 Executive Committee has learned that the Ontario Conservative government is quickly and quietly trying to change the current definition of antisemitism to the one adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016. This new definition of antisemitism is the product of a growing movement that seeks to redefine antisemitism to include criticism of Israel. This definition intentionally conflates antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel and Zionism. Bill 168 passed second reading in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario on February 27, 2020 and the Standing Committee on Justice is accepting public hearings this week, in anticipation of what we believe is a move to pass the bill to the third reading.

Bill 168 will not only have a chilling effect on academic freedom for students and faculty whose scholarship is critical of Israel, but it will further erode and delegitimize the rights and claims of Palestinian people. Furthermore, we stress that York University President Lenton reject the adoption of IHRA’s definition of antisemitism, given its unmistakable political character, and acknowledge the continual harassment faced by York students and faculty who support Palestine.

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CUPE 3903 is partnering with Work and Labour Studies @York and the Global Labour Research Centre to co-host CLIFF. There will be a series of films introduced and screened each Monday in November at 7pm, followed by a Q&A. This series will provide an opportunity to discuss labour issues as they affect workers globally and locally.

For the full schedule and registration links, click here.

Distribution Committee (2 vacancies)
– Aisha Adil (25 votes) – Elected
– Kathryn Galang (23 votes) – Elected
– Ali Gholami (9 votes)
– Abstentions (6)

Forum Moderator (1 vacancy)
– Aisha Adil (10 votes)
– Ali Gholami (0 votes)
– Angelica Hasbon (3 votes)
– Kelsey Ioannoni (24 votes) – Elected
– Abstentions (3)

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The nomination period for the position of Chief Steward Unit 2 will open at the GMM on October 23^rd and close on November 6^th at 4pm. To nominate yourself for this position, please fill out the nomination form posted here. Nominees must be unit 2 members and will need two other unit 2 members to support their nomination, as this is a unit 2 specific position.

If there are two or more candidates, there will be a campaigning period of two weeks, from November 7^th to November 20^th. Following campaigning, voting will take place for five days thereafter.

Voting will take place online through Simply Voting; the election will be fully managed by Simply Voting and overseen by the Local’s Elections Officers. Voting credentials (your personal link to vote) will be sent out, via a Simply Voting e-mail blast, to all current and political members of unit 2.

CUPE 3903 would like to warmly congratulate the following members for their success in the 2020-2021 conversions:

• Conversion to Professorial Stream:
  Gonzalez Perez, Jose M. (Social Science, LA&PS)
• Conversion to Teaching Stream:
  Bridget Cauthrey (Dance, AMPD)

Please consult the Continuing Sessional Status Programme (CSSP) eligibility list from the employer for the upcoming CSSP application round. CSSP blanket applications are due on November 1, 2020. You can apply online here. For further instructions see our CSSP Blanket Application Instructions page.

As per Article 12 of the Unit 2 Collective Agreement “Bargaining unit employees shall be granted Continuing Sessional Standing upon the completion of three consecutive contract years (September 1 to August 31) with an average annual minimum teaching intensity of 2 Type 1 or equivalent positions over the three years.” Members retain their CSSP status unless it ends pursuant to the terms in 12.01.

If you think you should be included in the eligibility list, but your name is not listed, please contact Rob Lawson (rlawson@yorku.ca) in the Faculty Relations Office, as well as Chief Steward Unit 2, Chris Bailey, or Staff Representative, Raj Virk for assistance.