There are two bodies that are vitally important to members during the bargaining process: the bargaining team and the bargaining mobilization committee. The 2008 CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team was elected at the GMM on April 3, 2008. The Bargaining Team comprises of 3 members from each unit and a recording officer. Members of the Bargaining Team can be reached at 3903bargainingteam@gmail.com. (For more information on the Bargaining Mobilization Committee, click here.)

For information on the bargaining process as a whole, click here.

Abbreviated Summary of our Bargaining Demands

WAGES - The employer is offering us a three year deal with salary increases of 3%, 3.25%, and 3%.

• According to Statistics Canada, the cost of living from August 2007-August 2008 rose 3.7% in Toronto. Effectively, this means that our real earnings have been eroded.
• Given the current economic context, we demand a wage increase AND a Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) in our agreement so that every year our wages adjust to the cost of living!
• Our total funding for TAs, GAs and RAs from wages, grant-in-aid, and summer minimum guarantee should not fall below the poverty line as defined by the Low Income Cut Off (LICO) rate – at the current rate, for a single person living in Toronto, this figure is $22,653.

LENGTH OF AGREEMENT - We want a 2-year Collective Agreement that would expire in 2010 so that we can join the other unions at Ontario Universities in coordinated bargaining.

JOB SECURITY - Many of our members have been teaching at York for fifteen to twenty years without any guarantee of work from year to year. We demand:

• A guaranteed complement of jobs every year for unit 2.
• That unit 2 members with at least 5 years of service receive guaranteed work.

WORKING CONDITIONS AND EMPLOYEE RESOURCES

• Our membership increased rapidly in recent years and with expected future growth, but our funds have remained the same. We demand that all of our funds be indexed to the beginning of the membership growth, that specific funds be increased where necessary, and that new funds be created to cover the cost of applying for permanent residence and to help international students who are ineligible for domestic funding.
• Smaller class sizes, a commitment to employment equity, and higher standards for determining unsafe work to create a more safe and sound classroom and community environment; our working conditions are students’ learning conditions!
• Whistle-blower protection, especially for the sciences, and an end to the Student Code of Conduct
• Better health, dental, and vision care; coverage for retirees; and expanded extended health benefits
• A fund to completely cover childcare expenses, sufficient on-campus daycare spaces to meet demand, choice in choosing daycares, better leave provisions, and access to breastfeeding and diaper changing rooms on campus.

TUITION

• Tuition fees are user fees for public goods. This year CUPE Ontario passed a number of resolutions calling for the elimination of all tuition and ancillary fees. These fees have gone up drastically in the last decade. Up until 1994 York University used to have post-residency fees. This was in recognition of the fact that after graduate students stop taking course work they draw significantly less on the resources of the University.