Unit 1 members must use their student Passport York (PPY) log-in to access the correct Unit 1 Blanket Application. If Unit 1 members log-in with their employee PPY they will be taken to the Unit 2 application. This mistake in the application system occurred in 2019 as well, at the time Faculty Relations told us they would look into addressing it. We are disappointed to see that even with a year to work on the issue York continues to make applying for positions more difficult for our Unit 1 members than is necessary.
Updates from the January GMM
At the GMM on January 9th several important discussions were had and motions passed. Please continue reading for highlights of the meeting. Thank you to everyone who came out.
Draft Hiring Protocol for Equity Officer (Retirement Replacement)
Our Equity Officer, Sheila Wilmot, has announced her intent to retire. Sheila’s last day will be February 29th. It is critical that we hire a replacement as soon as possible. A draft hiring protocol will be brought to the membership at the January GMM – this Thursday, January 9th. A link to this draft protocol is below.
We are asking all members to come out to the GMM if they can, as must get started on the hiring process.
Congratulations to Members Hired To SRCs!
As part of our arbitrated settlement York must appoint 18 Unit 2 members to Special Renewable Contracts by July 1, 2020. While, the number of SRCs was awarded through arbitration, the hiring process is a part of YUFA’s collective agreement. The first round of appointments have been completed, with 10 SRCs commencing January 1st, 2020. We have inquired about the remaining 8 positions and are awaiting a response from York.
Congratulations to all of the new YUFA members!
January GMM (January 9th) Tentative Agenda
Our next GMM will be January 9th from 12:30pm – 3:30pm in Harry Crowe Room (Atkinson 109). Free food and TTC tokens will be available! At this GMM, we will be voting on the hiring procedure for a staff member to replace our retiring Equity Officer, bylaw amendments as well as donation requests. All members are encouraged to attend.
Keep reading for the tentative agenda, accessibility information and more.
Solidarity with University of California Santa Cruz Graduate Student Workers
The CUPE 3903 Executive Committee stands in solidarity with University of California Santa Cruz graduate student workers who began a wildcat strike on December 6th to demand a cost of living adjustment (COLA). We support them in resisting the transformation of educational workers into underpaid and overworked service providers.
Read our letter of support to UCSC striking workers here (support letter; pdf) or continue reading below. Support for UCSC striking workers has also been placed on the January GMM agenda (January 9th) for discussion. More information about the UC Santa Cruz UGSA COLA campaign and ways members can support the striking workers can be found on payusmoreucsc.com.
Ontario Graduate Scholarship Funding Claw-backs
At a recent York CUPE 3903 Labour Management Committee meeting, the Faculty of Graduate Studies informed CUPE 3903 representatives that new Doctoral and Master’s students who had received OGS upon entering the first year of their Master’s or Doctoral program will not have their fellowship funding clawed back for that first year.
FGS is instead now classifying such a scholarship awarded to first year Masters and Doctoral students as a ‘recruitment scholarship’. However, students receiving these scholarships in subsequent years will continue to have their fellowship funding reduced. CUPE 3903 representatives continued to express our opposition to these claw-backs for graduate students. This will continue to be a bargaining issue for our members.
UHIP Reimbursement for International Students, and their Dependents
Many years ago, CUPE 3903 negotiated a fund that would provide international student members with financial assistance for University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) costs. We have also been assisting with the UHIP costs of people who are considered ‘dependents’ of our international student members. (Article 15.20 of the Unit 1 Collective Agreement or “CA”). Please continue reading for more information on UHIP and accessing these funds.
The Autonomy of Student Government Must be Defended
The CUPE 3903 Executive Committee is deeply concerned to see that the York University administration is attempting to interfere with the democratic processes of the York Federation of Students (YFS). The YFS is a student body governed by its own constitution and bylaws. As such, York University has no authority to dictate the internal affairs of YFS or interfere in student government.
235 Gosford Blvd. Community Response – Updates
We’ll be keeping this post up throughout the Winter break to post updates and call outs for support as we receive them.
On November 15th a fire devastated a neighbourhood apartment building, displacing hundreds of residents. It now looks like it may be several months or longer until the tenants can return. Many members have asked how they can support the residents of 235 Gosford Blvd. Keep reading for more information on how to help.