Work-to-Rule Campaign on hold: partial victory; much more work to be done
Communiqué: April 27, 2006
We would like to advise all members that we are no longer asking you to withhold grades or final work-related projects.
In response to the pressure created by the 250 members who signed on to the union’s Work-to-Rule campaign, the employer has addressed some of the most pressing concerns that we had identified. However, the employer still refuses to acknowledge some of the commitments it made at the conclusion of bargaining last fall. This is a cause for concern, which will have to be addressed in the coming months. The union might consider using the impact of a potential disruption of Congress this summer to convince the employer to confirm its bargaining commitments for GA in 07-08. Below is a more detailed account of the issue.
The problem
The union recently discovered that the employer was backtracking on its agreement with us in regards to wages for Graduate Assistants (Unit 3). We were informed that beginning in September 2006, Graduate Assistants in FES (Faculty of Environmental Studies) would not be receiving their annual 3% wage increase; in fact, their wages would be cut by a further 3%! The employer was doing this by reducing the number of hours for each GA contract, but not creating additional GA positions, as they had agreed to in bargaining. The union became concerned that this practice might be occurring in other departments, and the employer was not willing to confirm that this was indeed not happening and would not happen.
The employer responded to the Work-to-Rule campaign by:
1. Reversing its planned wage cut for GAs in FES and agreeing to add the 3% wage increase that we won in bargaining. The employer confirmed that GA contracts in FES would remain at 204 hours and that the number of GA positions would not be reduced in 06/07.
2. Confirming that, based on current information from FGS, it does not appear
that any programs are planning to diminish the number of hours for GAships in
2006-07 compared to 2005-06.
What is still unresolved:
1. The employer adamantly refuses to make similar commitments for the final year of the contract 07/08. It is extremely troubling that the employer refuses to agree that it “does not anticipate and does not see any reason to anticipate any reduction in the number of GAships in FES from the number of GAships in 2005/06 and 06/07.”
2. We need a method to verify that money that we won in bargaining for GAs is actually getting to them. It appears that the employer is experimenting with ways to reverse gains that we made in bargaining by either reducing the number of GA contracts or reducing the number of hours per contract.
How we plan to address the outstanding issues:
1. This is a very serious issue that will require a long term strategy. While we have reasonable assurance that we have defended Unit 3 for 06/07, we will have to prepare for another conflict in 07/08. This will likely be one of the central bargaining issues for the next round in 08/09. This violation of our contracts has threatened the stability of labour peace on campus for years to come and, the union regrets, will almost certainly lead to a strike in two years if unresolved.
2. We are continuing to consider pursuing legal channels for a further resolution.
In solidarity,
The CUPE 3903 Executive Committee
