Report on YUFA Executive Meeting of Feb. 23 2009

The YUFA Democracy Caucus

The YUFA Democracy Caucus summarizes the highlights of the poisonous YUFA Executive meeting on Feb. 23.

NOTE: While not a verbatim transcript of the proceedings, this Report does reflect their substance. Sensitive information discussed at the Executive meeting that might have a negative impact on present and forthcoming negotiations has not been included here.

Present: Arthur Hilliker, Mary Kandiuk, Livy Visano, David Cablanca , Suzie Young, Did Khayatt, Deborah Brock, Jay Rahn, Ildiko Kovacs, Louise Ripley, Ray Rogers , Jill Flohil , Monico Mulvihill, Heidi Bishop, Brenda Hart, Walter Whiteley (at the in camera portion)

1. Meeting with The Race Equity Caucus (REC) as ‘Order of the Day’
3 members of the Race Equity Caucus attended the first 30 minutes of the Executive meeting: Sarah Barrett (Chair), Eve Haque, Shubhra Gururani. Sarah Barrett acted as their spokesperson, presenting a series of questions to the Executive. Other members of the REC asked follow up questions.
Arthur Hilliker, who chairs the executive committee meetings, began by saying the Caucus was going to make a presentation to the Executive, but Sarah Barrett corrected him, saying that the Caucus members were there to open the lines of communication between the Executive and the caucus.

Question 1: An AA motion passed at the Special Membership Meeting in November 2008. Why was this done without consultation with REC?
Shortly after Prof. Barrett began to speak, AH’s cell phone rang and he answered it and left the room to take the call, exiting while the REC chair was in mid-sentence. The assembled was left to wait upon his return in order to continue the meeting.

Observation: The moment of the Chair's absence from the meeting room was an awkward one in several directions simultaneously, most obviously an affront to the spokeperson for REC. We note that Anglo Canadian culture is characterized by a strong sense of politeness such that breaches of it carry particular force.

To the first question, AH replied that the motion had been raised from the floor by members at the November Meeting. The motion had not been brought forward by the Executive.

Question 2: What is the YUFA Executive's strategy for dealing with equity issues in the forthcoming bargaining? Please explain it.
Sarah Barrett asked AH to explain the strategy about equity. Before she finished her sentence, AH replied that "we want to change our collective agreement so that AA applies to conversions.”
Eve Haque then asked if the Executive is concerned only with CUPE conversions and not TSA's? AH responded that TSA's are not currently in the YUFA collective agreement. If TSA's are to be included, then it will have to be approved by ballot. CAUT, he noted, has taken a position against TSA’s. The CUPR arbitration cannot impose TSA’s on YUFA. YUFA’s legal advice is that there should be tripartite negotiation on the question of TSA's. He doubts that the membership would approve the inclusion of TSA's within YUFA.
REC members then asked YUFA's strategy for dealing with CUPE now. AH responded that YUFA does not deal with CUPE. YUFA negotiates with the employer. The CUPE arbitration can't legally effect the YUFA collective agreement. He also reported that he, Livy Visano and Walter Whitely will be meeting with Graham Potts during the afternoon of 23 February. This meeting was initiated by CUPE 3903.
Livy Visano said that CUPE was aware that there could be serious problems if YUFA did not ratify TSA’s.

Question 3a): How did members respond to the equity question in the fall 2008 YUFA bargaining survey?
AH stated that overall roughly 80% supported various equity issues, while to a small minority equity did not matter.
Sarah said that equity matters more if you belong to an equity-seeking group. AH replied that YUFA is a constitutional democracy that represents all its members. Mary Kandiuk said that the union had to take a leadership role on race equity. Shubhra Gururani stated that YUFA must do this in the forthcoming negotiations: to frame equity as a minority issue is not right; equity is about accountability. She wanted to know what YUFA would do to bring up equity in negotiations. AH replied that he agreed that equity is an important issue, but that people filling out a survey look out for their own interests.
Question 3b): Given this survey result, what will YUFA do on equity during bargaining?
AH noted that YUFA is a constitutional democracy and represents all members. YUFA can thus still bargain equity and lead it ahead of the membership. Mary Kandiuk likewise argued that the YUFA Executive needs to supply leadership to its members on equity.
Eve Haque asked what is YUFA going to seek on equity in negotiations. AH replied that to say anything now would be putting the cart before the horse, but that YUFA would want its own AA sense applied to the language of conversions. She then inquired as to whether AA language also be applied to TSA's? AH responded yes, but membership has not approved TSA's. YUFA would support the 30% target. Eve Haque then inquired further, “Any thing else besides the language for the conversions and the TSA’s?” She was concerned about the time line: how would the data about equity be gathered? A lot of information gathering had to happen soon.
Mary Kandiuk noted that the employer falls back on the FCCP guidelines whereas York should reflect Toronto demographics. Didi Khayatt observed that the most effective way to proceed is not by reading the numbers but by reading the history.
Suzie Young emphasized that bargainers will need to be knowledgeable about equity and the challenges to it. Since the Executive appoints the bargaining committee, it should make sure that someone from the REC is on the bargaining committee. Debi Brock emphasized that there had to be greater representation of equity at the bargaining table. That there should be no bargaining away equity in negotiations. She asked that AH clarify the current stage and the process of forming of the bargaining committee.
AH remarked that the CUPE strike paralyzed everything at YUFA but that work on bargaining will occur soon. He agreed that someone with REC expertise and commitment be appointed to the bargaining committee.
Sarah Barrett commented that in the last contract a survey was to be developed about work place environment. Where is it at this point?
Mary Kandiuk observed that The Joint Task Force had been derailed by the CUPE strike. She said that the employer’s position is that they are not required to meet their obligations until the end of the Collective Agreement. This timing will mean that the survey results are unavailable at the start of bargaining. A new draft exists and has been commented on by YUFA. There is lots on "climate" in this Report.
Sarah Barrett asked what was YUFA’s strategy for dealing with this delay with the Joint Task Force Report? Mary Kandiuk replied that YUFA is ready to go back to the employer. Sarah Barrett then asked what would happen if it takes too long. What will YUFA do? Suzie Young said that equity is everyone’s responsibility and not only the responsibility of equity seeking groups.
REC thanked the Executive for inviting them and asked to see some concrete ideas. They requested a commitment on behalf of the Executive to filter ideas back to the caucus.
REC left the Executive meeting at this point.

2. Agenda
The agenda was passed unanimously.

3. Minutes
9 February minutes were approved with amendments from Alex Murray and Suzie Young. Suzie Young moved two amendments: 1) to the minutes of the Feb. 9 meeting regarding the minutes of the Feb. 2 meeting (amendment 1), and 2) to the Feb. 9 minutes (amendment 2). She stated that Amendment 1 had not been included in the minutes of the Feb. 9 meeting. The amendment was to include in the minutes AH’s commitment that he would consult YUFA’s lawyers about a breach of the collective agreement. AH said that he had no memory of that. Jay replied that he might have missed it.
AH stated several times that he had no memory of Suzie Young's having tried to amend the Feb. 2 minutes. At one point he asked if anyone had heard Suzie Young's comments; Ray Rogers spoke up saying that he remembered the general exchange. AH also asked if she had made a motion as only motions and not comments are minuted at YUFA Executive meetings. It was then agreed that the amendment will be noted on the minutes for this meeting. Monica Mulvihill said that she had taken some action related to this and is awaiting a response.
The second amendment had been moved by Suzie to Agenda item 2 c 3 of the Feb. 9 meeting. Suzie had reported the need to fill subcommittee positions rather than hold them open for members who are on leave in an interim fashion as this interim sometimes dragged on for years and so no meetings took place and no work was done. This amendment was accepted.
Ildiko Kovacs noted that she had not received the Contract Review Committee Report. AH replied that the report was given to her in October. She said that she had been excluded because of a teaching timetable conflict that Executive would not accommodate. She also stated that she had been unable to open the attachment forwarded the previous night and requested that the item be postponed. AH said it was simply information items about meetings with CUPE and CLA's.

3. Personnel Committee Standing Report
It was noted that historically staff have had the right to speak to the personnel committee in camera. Therefore, In the event that the Appointments item on the Agenda is not approved as in camera, then the staff will exercise their right and deal with it with only the personnel committee in camera rather than at the current meeting of the Executive. Suzie Young noted that while “personnel issues” that pertain to staff are dealt with in the staff relations committee which is chaired by the vice president internal, the present issue is YUFA subcommittees nominations and appointments rather than staff personnel issues..
Observations:
It has subsequently come to our attention from elsewhere that the staff who work for YUFA are members of CUPE but they negotiated (with YUFA, their employer) the right to participate in all YUFA meetings including in camera executive committee meetings (which, as you will see below, even YUFA members cannot attend), in all contract committee and other subcommittee meetings, stewards meetings and any meeting of the general membership.

4. Reports and Items for Action
a) President – A. Hilliker
AH reported that he and others will be attending a meeting at CUPE’s request.
Debi Brock expressed surprise that there had been no comment in the President's report of the Special Membership Meeting. She noted that AH's comments at that meeting undercut CUPE as a sister union, and he had said nothing about the ER’s contribution to the dispute and the strike. These remarks precipitated a long and heated discussion. AH responded that Debi Brock had attacked him verbally. She in turn replied she only meant to question AH's judgement and performance. She stated that she believed that AH had not addressed the membership with the objectivity and professionalism required of his position as YUFA President, giving a fuller and more nuanced account of discussions that had occurred among the YUFA Executive.
AH stated that he had not known what the employer was doing over the course of the strike as he had only had direct dealings with CUPE and these on a daily telephone basis. This telephone experience had been hard. It was his only direct evidence of the CUPE strike and thus he could not speak to anything else, for instance anything the ER had done. AH went on to note that "my union had a civil war" during the CUPE strike and that the reaction of the Executive to this had been to go "straight up the middle". All work on bargaining had been discontinued for the duration of the strike.
Ildiko Kovacs observed that CUPE did not cause YUFA to stop its work on negotiations. AH had stated Executive would not meet for a month because it had no business to discuss (Dec. 8-Jan. 12). Suzie Young stated that AH spoke personally and emotionally about CUPE but said nothing about the ER’s actions.
Debi Brock argued that there had been a need for an objective, balanced approach from AH regarding the CUPE strike at the Special Meeting. Livy Visano said that AH should have been less emotional -- he had been angry.
Louise Ripley noted that the relation between reason and feeling was the subject of her research. The opposition of feeling and reason was invidious. The presence of feeling in AH's argumentation does not indicate an absence of reason.

Observation: Three members of the Executive were in effect requesting that AH conduct himself at membership meetings with the professionalism expected and required of a president of a faculty association at the same worksite as our graduate students and contract faculty colleagues. Other than Deborah Brock, Ildiko Kovacs, and Suzie Young, the members of the Executive did not grasp this point. The reception was hostile. There seemed to be a fundamental absence of any normative understanding of leadership in the discussion. Louise Ripley said, "[t]his is a bloody waste of time." She suggested that she was going to immediately leave the meeting to write a paper which is due on March 31. This action did not occur, however, until the meeting formally adjourned.

b) Vice President Internal – M.Kandiuk: Appointments (in camera) and Nominations
M. Kandiuk's moved the agenda item on Appointments and Nominations have the Appointments discussion in camera. AH clarified that there were "sensitive personnel issues" that required in camera proceedings.
Suzie Young presented a series of objections to the move in camera. She quoted from the YUFA Constitution that “meetings of any body of the Association shall be open to members of the Association,” and she stated that the Executive Committee is accountable for the decisions it makes, its deliberations are open to scrutiny, and, in speaking before an audience at an official meeting, remarks tend to be tempered, something that makes for a sounder process. She also suggested that when people nominate themselves or are nominated for public office, they are subject to scrutiny. Consent to nomination implies that some of their privacy concerns are suspended, as one can't stand in secret to public office. If the Executive moved in camera for nominees, subsequent discussion at Steward's Council would likely not preserve confidentiality.
AH then stated that a lawyer's opinion on the question of in camera discussions had been solicited in the past (date unknown); a staff member showed him a note but it was kept between them. AH looked at it and reported that sensitive personnel issues and bargaining could be done in camera. Jay Rahn and Brenda Hart noted that it was just the Appointments discussion and not the nominations discussion that was to be in camera, as indicated on the agenda. Mary Kandiuk noted that confidential matters can go in camera. Suzie Young noted that It was circular reasoning to say that we must go in camera because what we will discuss should not be heard by others.
The question was called. The motion passed. The YUFA observers left the room, hearing only muffled and indistinct shouting thereafter as they waited until 1:10 before surmising from the faces of leavetakers that the meeting had adjourned.
Observations:
The atmosphere of this meeting was poisonous. The President treated dissent with anger and contempt. Members of the Race Equity Caucus were dealt with rudely at several points.
The Executive is highly polarized, with the majority voting against a minority of three members who were doing little more than defending basic democratic principles and sense of fair play. The undermining of Suzie Young as Chief Steward, in particular the reluctance or difficulties that some members of the Executive had in hearing her words, was deeply disturbing and could be thought to border on harassment. It was as though she was speaking to the wind at certain junctures.
AH appears as the main speaker in these notes to the Executive meeting as he dominated discussion. This would prima facie seem to conflict with his position as Chair of the meeting.

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