1. We Need You on the
Lines![Details below]
2. Update on Back-to-work Legislation
[Details below]
3. Strike Pay for Winter Term Workers
[Details below]
4. Communications
Central [Details below]
5. Upcoming Meetings
a.Wednesday,
January 7
i. 12:00 PM - Executive
meeting at HQ (635 Petrolia Road); all
members welcome [Details below]
ii. 6:30 PM -
Bargaining support action in the lobby
of the Holiday Inn Express (30
Norfinch Drive); all members welcome
[Details below]
iii. 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
- TFAC Meeting at the Concord Cafe
(937 Bloor St., just West of Ossington
Station) [Details below]
b. Thursday, January
8
5:00 PM - GMM at
Montecassino Hotel/Banquet Hall (3710
Chesswood Drive), all members welcome,
but please bring ID or a pay stub
[Details below]
c. Friday, January 9
i. 12:00 PM - Greek
solidarity rally at the Consulate
General of Greece, 325 Bloor Street
East (at Sherbourne), all members
welcome [Details below]
ii. 3:30 PM - SC
meeting at HQ, all members welcome
iii. 5:00 PM - Exec
meeting at HQ, all members welcome
d. Sunday, January
10
i. 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM -
Town Hall Meeting, location TBA, all
members welcome [Details below]
ii. 3:00 PM - Picket
Captain training and debriefing,
location TBA (same as the Town Hall
Meeting), all members welcome [Details
below]
e. Tuesday, January
13
10:30 - Communications
meeting at HQ (635 Petrolia Road); all
members welcome [Details below]
6. Bargaining Updates from January
5th and 6th
a) January 5
i. 6:30 PM
ii. 11 PM
b) January 6
i. 3 PM
ii. 5:30 PM
iii. 7:30 PM
1. We Need You on the
Lines!
After we mobilized and
pressured them with the Week of
Action, the Employer finally (after
over a month of intransigence) has
come back to the table. Now, they are
stalling and slowing things down.
Their offer continues to be completely
inadequate, at times even
concessionary, on:
- health benefits (want to cut the EHB
fund)
- whistleblower protection (they said
no!)
- offset language (no!)
- Unit 1's post-res fees (no!)
- Unit 2's conversions (just one per
year!)
- Unit 3's minimum guarantee (no!)
It is now that we must mobilize and
pressure them again to speed up and
give us the fair deal we deserve -- in
the same way that we got them back to
the table. And now, more than ever,
while the Employer is at the table, we
must step up our efforts at the picket
lines and make the lines strong to
provide support to the Bargaining Team
at the table. Otherwise they'll leave
us -- and 50,000 students -- out in
the cold.
Come on out, get folks out -- friends,
family, classmates, colleagues -- and
let's win this strike!
Remember, it ain't over 'til their
high-priced union-busting lawyer
sings!
- CUPE 3903 Strike Committee (Stewards
Council)
2. The Possibility of
Back-to-Work Legislation
With the start of the
new year, sources have indicated that
some members of the Ontario
Legislature are considering
re-introducing back-to-work
legislation. However, we have been
advised that the Ministry of Labour is
very unlikely to take such measures as
long as the two sides are negotiating
and progress is being made. We have
nothing to fear as long as everyone's
talking...so let's keep our strike
strong, and let the employer know that
it makes more sense to stay at the
table.
3. Strike Pay for
Winter Term Workers
As you know, normally
we'd be in the first week of the
winter term right now, but we went on
strike three weeks before the end of
the fall term. This raises an
interesting problem for members who
have contracts for the winter term
only, and depend on getting paid this
month. At Monday's exec meeting, it
was decided that people who are
starting work in the winter term can
begin to collect strike pay for doing
picket duty. Just bring a copy of
your contract to HQ, and we'll get you
into our database.
People who have
contracts for the fall term only can
continue to collect strike pay.
The Communications
Committee, working with CUPE 3903 Exec
members, has created a structure for
co-ordinating and vetting content.
Communications Central will continue
the hard work of the outgoing Media
Committee in order to ensure that:
- the information we
put out is up to date and correct
- communications work
is done in collaboration with the Exec
and the Bargaining Team
- we have a quick
turnaround time for production and
vetting
- work is not
duplicated
- information goes out
when it needs to, where it needs to
- we have a cohesive
communications strategy
- nothing gets lost in
the shuffle
What to send to
Communications Central:
- finished flyers,
videos, articles, fact sheets, and
other communications materials, for
vetting
- information to be
passed on to the Communications
Committee
- any deficits you
perceive in our communications, so we
can either create materials or get
existing materials to the right place
In order to address
issues of meeting fatigue and give
exec members time to work on their own
portfolios, executive meetings have
been scaled back to three per week.
They will take place at headquarters
Mondays and Fridays at 5:00 PM, and on
Wednesdays at noon.
ii. Bargaining Support Action
Wednesday
Wednesday's Strike
Committee meeting will be cancelled.
However, all members are invited to a
bargaining support action at 6:30 PM
tomorrow in the lobby of the hotel
where bargaining is taking place.
Wednesday will be a pivotal point in
bargaining, and we need to show the
employer that there are a lot of
people whose futures hinge on what
goes on in that room. The hotel the
Holiday Inn Express at 30 Norfinch
Drive, north off Finch, west of Jane,
and east of the 401. Bring snacks, so
that we can give the Bargaining Team
both moral and nutritional support.
iii. TFAC Meeting:
Wednesday, January 7th, from 7pm to
9pm, at the Concord
Cafe (937 Bloor St., just West of
Ossington Station)*
Our next TFAC meeting will be
Wednesday, January 7th from 7pm-9pm at
the Concord Cafe. Apologies for the
late notice. The Concord Cafe is an
accessible space. RSVP to co-chairs
Healy and Carolyn.
All women, trans, gender queer and
gender variant members of the local
are automatically members of the Trans
Feminist Action Caucus whether or not
you have ever attended a meeting.
Food, drinks, and two TTC tokens will
be provided for members who attend.
Child care and accessible
transportation funds are available by
request to Carolyn at
cupe3903tfac@gmail.com. To ask
questions or to be added to the TFAC
listserv, contact Healy at
healythompson@gmail.com or Carolyn
at
cupe3903tfac@gmail.com.
>From now to the next TFAC meeting we
will be accepting nominations for two
elections officers to be chosen by the
membership on January 7. Elections
officers are responsible for ensuring
open and fair elections process for
the TFAC co-chair positions for
2009-2010, including advertising the
positions to members, opening the
nomination period, campaign period,
and elections at the TFAC annual
general meeting at the end of
February. Elections officers are not
eligible for nomination for the TFAC
co-chair positions.
We would also like to invite you to
lend your suggestions and organizing
skills for the TFAC winter social. In
previous years TFAC has hosted dinners
for our members, and guest speakers
and socials for the CUPE 3903
membership at large. Usually this
social is combined with our AGM.
b) GMM Thursday: Location Announced
The next GMM will be on
Thursday, Jan 8, from 5-8 pm. Light
supper will be provided at 6:30.
Proof of ID is required to register
and vote.
The location:
Montecassino
Hotel/Banquet Hall
3710 Chesswood Drive
North York, ON M3J 2W4
Corner of Sheppard and Chesswood
NW of Downsview Subway (about 5
minutes walk)
Minutes from the last several GMMs
will be available from 4:00 on for
members to review.
A Child care room has
been booked on site & CUPE 3903 will
arrange supervision via Maria Wallis.
TTC tokens will be distributed.
The tentative agenda is
as follows:
1. Introduction
a) Welcome Back (5)
b) Rationale (5)
c) Read Equality Statement (5)
2. Approval of the Agenda (10)
3. Approval of Previous Minutes (10)
4. Bargaining Reportback
a) Presentations (30)
b) Discussions (30)
Break (10)
5. Executive Reportback
a) Presentations (10)
b) Discussions (10)
6. Bargaining/Strike Strategy
a) Presentations (if necessary) (10)
b) Discussions (10)
7. Plenary/Motions
a) Plenary (15)
b) Motions (15)
c)
Friday, January 9
i. Spark In Athens, Fire In Toronto -
Greek Uprising Solidarity Rally
On Friday January 9 at
12 noon, join the Association of
Part-time Undergraduate Students,
Common Cause, CUPE 3903, CUPE 3907, No
One Is Illegal Toronto, and the
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty for
a solidarity rally outside the
Consulate General of Greece at 365
Bloor Street East (at Sherbourne).
The death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos,
an unarmed fifteen-year-old boy, at
the hands of Athenian police on
December 6, has sparked riots in
Greece. Thousands of people have
taken to the streets to protest police
brutality, attacks against immigrants
and migrants (including an acid attack
on a Bulgarian union organizer), and
rising unemployment fuelled by the
global financial crisis.
Friday's rally will address
privatization of education,
corporatization of campuses, barriers
to immigration, police repression,
poverty, and institutionalized
racism. These led to the current
uprising in Greece, and we are
struggling here with the very same
issues. Come out and support our
Greek brothers and sisters!
d) Sunday, January 11
i. Town Hall Meeting
All CUPE 3903 members are invited to
attend the next town hall meeting,
which will be held downtown (location
TBA) from 1:00pm-3:00pm on Sunday
January 11. Food and two TTC tokens
will be provided to every member who
attends. Childcare reimbursement can
also be covered. We request that you
RSVP to
healythompson@gmail.com so that we
can make sure there is enough food and
so that we can make sure you are
informed of the location when that is
finalized. (You may attend even if you
don't RSVP but if you can, please
RSVP.) We have chosen this time and
location because the last two Town
Halls occured near campus during
picketing hours and because the
evenings this week are full of other
meetings (strike committee, TFAC, GMM,
and Executive); we want to make Town
Halls accessible to to as many
different members as possible.
1:00-3:00pm
Sunday, January 11
Location TBA (downtown)
All CUPE 3903 members are invited to
attend
RSVP to
healythompson@gmail.com
These town hall meetings, which occur
weekly or biweekly (depending on
demand and other events) are intended
to provide a forum for people to ask
questions and have discussions about
any issue related to CUPE 3903 and/or
the strike. This is not an "official"
CUPE 3903 meeting (meaning it's not
covered by our bylaws or policy
manual), which means we do not have to
follow Bourinot's Rules of Order (and
we don't!). Past town halls have
focused on issues of equity within the
strike, the
experiences/concerns/suggestions of
picketers, and the questions of
members. To answer questions, take
note of concerns, and receive
feedback, at least one member of the
executive will be present. If the
bargaining team isn't in bargaining,
we will probably also have at least
one member of the bargaining team
there.
ii. Picket Captain
Training Session Moved to Sunday
Special Super-Fun
Strike Committee Picket Captain/Car
Talker Debrief/Welcome
Sunday January 10, Post-Town Hall,
location TBA
All members (Picket Captains or not)
welcome and encouraged to attend!
After hearing some member concerns,
both over the overlap with the TFAC
meeting and the possibility of
surveillance of meetings taking place
in Vari Hall and other concerns, the
Strike Committee has made the decision
to postpone the Picket Captain SC
meeting until Sunday, immediately
following the Town Hall meeting,
location to be announced.
---
Ahoy Picket Captains, new and old!
The Strike Committee has heard
discussions amongst groups of PCs on
various lines, and there is broad
agreement on the need for PCs, both
newly "deputized" and old, to debrief,
to share new skills and to retrain
ourselves in a fashion that is more
suited to the demands of the York
environment.
While we recognize that each line has
its own interests and needs, the role
of the picket captain, which entails
providing leadership while allowing
for member autonomy, continues to be
important in this strike. PCs often
find themselves stuck between the
Scylla of micro-management and thus
appearing authoritarian, and the
Charydbis of rudderless facilitation
only to end up taking on three tasks
at once while missing out on the
fourth one.
With this in mind, it is time for us
to discuss as well as analyse the role
of the picket captain.
Long-serving PCs can share their
experiences - both good and bad - with
newly deputized captains and/or those
that are interested in becoming
captains, with an eye towards making
the task both as approachable as
possible and more understandable and
transparent for members. Members with
reccomendations in regards to the role
of the PC are welcome to share their
experiences.
In addition to discussing and sharing
our experiences as captains, we will
role-play various scenarios, as in the
initial PC training sessions,
specifically scenarios that are unique
to our strike. Feel free to send us
any suggestions for such scenarios, or
bring one of your own!
We are using Vari Hall in the spirit
of other actions and teach-ins that
have taken place on our campus, as it
will give us the space in which to
role-play while not taking folks away
from the lines during picket-hours.
We are open, though, to having another
debrief during picket-hours and/or the
weekend so as to facilitate
involvement of PCs and members who are
only on the morning shifts.
We also need to look into some
unfortunate gender dynamics on the
picketlines. It has been apparent to
PCs and members that often male and
female PCs are treated differently by
members. This dynamic ranges from a
lack of respect for female PC
leadership, to a penchant for venting
frustration to female PCs, all the
while listening to male PCs. Similar
dynamics appear in other "duties" on
the line.
Other agenda items:
- Car Talking! Anyone with questions
or skills to share are strongly
advised to attend!
- Building morale and keeping the
lines fun!
- Rotating picketers (and captains) to
other lines
- Picketline safety - what is (and
isn't) an incident. Dealing with
police and security.
- Encouraging members to stay after
the end of the late shift for
takedown, so as to take up the burden
of PCs who have been known to have to
wait alone in the cold.
The Communications Committee will be
meeting at HQ at 10:30 in the
morning. All union members are
invited to hear updates, share ideas,
offer their skills, and meet some of
the dedicated and talented people
behind CUPE 3903's videos, bulletins,
flyers, website, press releases,
Facebook groups, and other
communications.
6. Bargaining Updates -
Thanks Matt and Angel!
a) January 5
i. BARGAINING UPDATE
JAN 5, 630PM
We have been meeting all day to
develop a counterproposal on the
teaching-stream appointments program
for Unit 2. We met with the employer
and presented a revised document which
they are now discussing in their own
caucus. Some of the most important
elements of this counter include:
- a system for including seniority
elements based on required numbers
from cohort categories based on years
of service in the affirmative action
pool (5+ years, 10+ years, and 15+
years in the pool);
- our minimum number of
appointments would be based on a ratio
of YUFA appointments, with additional
provisions for long-service members
with 15+ years in the pool;
- the salary would be set at
70,000 plus
progress-through-the-ranks;
- we also noted several clauses in
the YUFA agreement that we would want
to apply to the teaching-stream
appointees.
We also presented on the importance of
the Minimum Guarantee proposals for
Unit 1 and Unit 3 members, also
demanding that we see some movement on
specific proposals for changes to the
Priority Pool language, and moves
towards getting international student
parity for fees and tuition. We asked
for some clarity on the disparities
between how we have costed these
proposals and how the employer has
costed them � hoping that this focus
on the costs could get us closer to a
mutual agreement.
We received information regarding the
functioning of the proposed
post-retirement benefits. We also got
a counter on some information we are
requesting that would help the union
organize a better pensions plan.
We're now awaiting word on how the
employer will respond to these moves
we've made.
ii. BARGAINING
UPDATE JANUARY 5 � 11 PM
The employer responded to our counter
proposal on Teaching Stream
Appointments at about 10:00PM. They
made some moves on some of the issues
we had addressed in our pass earlier
today.
They maintained their position on the
pay being set at 70,000, not-agreeing
to our addition of a provision to
apply YUFA-level
"progression-through-the-ranks" (which
accumulates increasing pay
year-by-year)
They maintained their position on the
course-load being set at 3.5, as
opposed to our proposal of 3.0.
They made a counter on our plan for
appointments � the offered 7 in year
one, 5 in year two, and 5 in year
three. Of the 7 in the first year, 3
would have to be appointed to a member
with at least 10+ years in the
affirmative action pool, and 1 would
have to be appointed to a member with
15+ years in the affirmative action
pool. For the next years, with 5
appointments each, 2 would be for
members with more than 10 years, and 1
would be for a member with 15+ years.
They did also agree to include several
extra provisions from the YUFA
agreement.
Also they changed some language and
removed some of the exclusions.
However, they did not make any
movements on compensation or course
load.
They didn't talk about graduate
funding, or conversions. We are
taking-off to sleep for the night,
hopefully there will be more movement
tomorrow.
We will be meeting at 10 am, in the
asshole of the universe, highway 400
and finch, Holiday Inn Express, in the
stuffy-stuffy stinky Simcoe room, with
free coffee from the Hotel, (but no
free meals).
Here's how to get to the "Bargaining
Table":
- From Downsview Station: Take the 196
up to Finch, and then take the 36
Finch West two stops past Jane Street.
Walk north on Norfinch Drive.
- From Finch Station: Take the 36
Finch West two stops past Jane Street.
Walk north on Norfinch Drive.
Map:
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/yyzny/transportation?start=1
b) January 6 i. BARGAINING UPDATE: JANUARY 6, 3 PM The bargaining team has been working since 10 AM reviewing the Employer's counterproposal on Teaching Stream Appointments, as well as ensuring that the list of items both parties have already agreed-to is accurate. Likewise, the Employer has been caucusing on job securityissues, and has passed information along through the mediator about the percentage of tutor 1 jobs that are available to Unit 2 members. We also received a first pass on the number of conversions for Unit 2 members. They have stated their first negotiating position as one per year of the collective agreement, for a total of three conversions over three years. This is a very low-ball offer, and we know there will be improvements to this by the end of bargaining. Right now the employer is discussing our demands for increased graduate funding, and we are hoping to hear back from them on this topic later in the afternoon. Meanwhile, we are working as expeditiously as possible on the Teaching-Stream Appointment issues.
ii. BARGAINING
UPDATE: JANUARY 6, 5:30 PM
We met with the mediator again who had
some answers for us about
graduate funding. The employer's view
is that since we have made no
significant changes in our minimum
guarantee proposals, even after
clarifying differences in costing,
they maintain their position. They
are saying that they've already put
almost all of the money on the
table that they are planning to bring
forward. Apparently, there
could possibly be a few hundred
dollars of improvements for the Unit 1
minimum guarantee. As for the minimum
guarantee for Unit 3, they
continue to state that they will not
negotiate on this issue. They
regurgitated their line on the
differences between Unit 1 and Unit 3
by saying that the institutional
relationship within Unit 1 is longer
and more meaningful, and that the
nature of the work of Unit 1 and
Unit 3 members is very different,
requiring different compensation �
this is how they justify denying
greater commitment to members in Unit
3. They are also not prepared to agree
to any language removals for
priority pool information.
Needless to say, this
is not encouraging. We are now
considering how
to respond in total on moving forward,
while also continuing to work
on our counter-proposal for the
teaching-stream appointments,
This is some of the language that we
have been trying to change for
the priority pool:
Eligibility criteria are:
- member of the bargaining unit during
the preceding 12-month period,
including those on leaves of absence
under the collective agreement;
in the Priority Pool;
- must be continuously registered on a
full time basis for the
following 8-month period;
- have total funding including major
external scholarships not greater
than the priority pool entitlement
plus $5,682 in 2008-2009 and $6,089
in 2009-2010.
must be available to undertake some
form of GA or RA activity should
it be necessary in at least one of the
three terms in the 12 month
period starting with the fall. Such GA
and RA activities will be
offered in the summer term, unless the
member of the bargaining unit
requests that the GA or RA activities
be offered in a different term.
A member of the bargaining unit will
not lose entitlement to the
summer minimum guarantee for having
declined a position that is not
appropriate or where the member is
awaiting confirmation of a separate
pending position
iii. BARGAINING
UPDATE: JANUARY 6 730PM
After a long day of discussions and no
substantial movement from the
employer, the Bargaining Team is going
home. We will reconvene at
9:30AM at the Holiday Inn Express.
Here's how to get to the "Bargaining
Table":
- From Downsview Station: Take the 196
up to Finch, and then take the
36 Finch West two stops past Jane
Street. Walk north on Norfinch
Drive.
- From Finch Station: Take the 36
Finch West two stops past Jane
Street. Walk north on Norfinch Drive.
Map:
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/yyzny/transportation?start=1
_______________________________________________
CUPE Local 3903 |
York University, 104 East Office Building
4700 Keele St.,
Toronto Ontario M3J-1P3
Tel:
416-736-5154 | Fax: 416-736-5480 |
http://www.cupe3903.tao.ca
Strike Headquarters: 635 Petrolia Road, Toronto
Ontario
Tel: 416-635-2858 |
http://www.3903strike.ca
Please note that
the
cupe3903news@gmail.com email account is for
outgoing messages only.
Direct all inquiries directly to staff or
executive committee members.
