Democratic Gains at the YUFA SMM on March 3

Marcia Macaulay

The YUFA Special Membership Meeting on March 3, 2009 was an important
event for the membership as a whole. It was attended by approximately one
hundred and fifty members. This meeting concentrated on motions brought
from the previous Special Membership Meeting on February 9.

The meeting began with a modification of the agenda moved from the floor.
Item #5 (Motions arising from the Committee-as-a-Whole from 9 February) was
moved forward to come directly after Item #1 (approval of agenda) and Item
#2 (approval of minutes). This was to ensure that the meeting would focus on
those Motions which arose from the Committee-of-the-Whole during the previous
Special Membership Meeting. Also added during the initial discussion of the
agenda were three motions to be taken up in Other Business at the end of the
meeting: a Balloting Motion moved by Lesley Wood and seconded by Stephanie
Ross, and two motions concerning the election of Stewards.

During Item #1, approval of the minutes, David Clipsham noted that one
motion put to the Committee-of-the-Whole on February 9 by Michael
Mozurkewich was not recorded as part of the discussion. This motion
concerned the acceptance of binding arbitration (that is, an agreement to
forego the right to strike) prior to entry into contract negotiations. Nor
was it recorded in the minutes that the membership had voted against accepting this motion for discussion at the 3 March meeting. The minutes were amended
accordingly. (This rejected motion is attached below)

The meeting then focused attention on its main purpose: consideration of the
eight motions coming out of the Committee-of-the-Whole on February 9. (The
approved motions are appended below). The first motion, that the Executive bring
negotiating demands to the membership at a Membership meeting, was ruled out
of order since such action is already required in the constitution.

The second motion, that the Executive inform the membership of the main results
of the Bargaining Survey, was discussed at length. Those against believed that
releasing this information would provide information to the Employer in advance of bargaining. Those in favour believed that it was necessary for the Membership to
have such results (in the form of a general Report) in order to make informed
decisions about negotiating demands. The motion carried.

The third motion, that three members of the membership be elected to the
bargaining team, was ruled out of order. However, an amendment was made by
Richard Wellen to this motion requiring that "the Executive put out a call
inviting members to volunteer to sit on the negotiating committee" and that
"the bargaining team hold regular, open membership consultation meetings, at
least once monthly, to keep members informed about developments in
negotiations." This amended motion was debated and carried without opposition.

The fourth motion, which called for solidarity with CUPE 3903, was voted
down since members found some of the wording unclear and the original mover
could not be found to support it. Motion 5, which indicated that the
creation of TSA positions should not impinge on the creation of full-time
YUFA positions, was then discussed and defeated, because it confusingly
maintained that such positions should not decrease the workload of full-time
faculty.

A subsequent motion concerning CLA's was modified as a motion supporting a
CLA Policy Grievance. This was ruled out of order by the Chair because,
according to the Chair, the Executive was already considering such a
Grievance. His ruling was not challenged.

The seventh motion, originating with the Executive and calling for a
subcommittee to be formed to produce a position paper examining the current
political context in which negotiations will take place (cuts to the funding
of post-secondary education, reductions in the hiring of tenure-stream
positions, reliance on contingent labour, equity, expanding
class size and increased workloads) was also discussed and carried.

The last motion coming out of The-Committee-of-the-Whole, "That YUFA seek
comprehensive legal advice concerning the issue of 'community of interest'
in regard to contract faculty representation in the YUFA collective
agreement, was withdrawn.

Following discussion of these motions, the meeting moved to Item #3. There
ensued a long discussion of the issue of TSAs and their import for
YUFA. It was pointed out that there needed to be a full discussion of TSAs
at a subsequent meeting. The membership was not generally disposed to
incorporation of TSAs into the next YUFA contract. Arthur Hilliker pointed
out that should CUPE 3903 and the employer come to an agreement about TSAs, such
an agreement would not be binding on YUFA. Some wanted YUFA to indicate to
the Employer now that TSAs would not be acceptable as a category. Others
argued that it would be preferable to reinforce the CLA classification
within YUFA rather than accept TSAs.

In keeping with Item #4, Arthur Hilliker provided a review of the results
of the bargaining questionnaire. He noted that the three principal issues
identified by the membership were Salary, Workload and support for Research.
Decreasing the teaching load to 2 courses was discussed, followed by support for research, with members emphasizing increases to annual PEAs, support for conference
and travel, increased research funding, and increases to sabbatical and leave funds. Improved benefits and retirement were also priorities for members. Although Equity
issues were not given prominence in the questionnaire, it was argued that such
issues should be given attention in the next set of negotiations.

The meeting then turned to two reports on Casualization of Labour by Ray
Rogers and Walter Whiteley that emphasized the need for faculty to be more
cognizant of the academic and collegial damage caused by an increasingly
casualized work force and of the ethical issues involved in complying with
or benefiting from the increasingly casualized academic work force.

The meeting ended with Other Business. The three motions previously added
to the agenda were addressed at this time. The Balloting Motion proposed by
Lesley Wood was initially ruled out of order by Arthur Hilliker. There was
a successful challenge to the Chair's ruling and the motion was discussed.
The motion was deemed a necessary and normal improvement to present election
procedures. Many felt that there was too much room for abuse in the current
system, while others could not understand why full explanation had not been
provided when a recent election was termed 'irregular'. Others felt that an
electronic system should be put in place. The motion carried.

A motion was passed to extend the meeting by 15 minutes to permit
discussion of the two additional motions that had been added to the agenda.
However many members left at this time.

These motions concerning the election of Stewards were deemed out of order
by the Chair since he felt they were not constitutional. A vote to
challenge the Chair concerning the first of these motions showed 22 in
favour of allowing the motion and 24 against. There was some question as to
the accuracy of this count.

The issue of representation of units arising out of the third of these
motions was raised by John Bell, who noted that many units were being
reassigned because of restructuring. He pointed out that it was important that
YUFA consider the impact of restructuring on unit representation. It was
agreed that the matter would be taken up in Stewards' Council.

Given the many occasions in which the Constitution was referenced during the
meeting, Linda Briskin asked that a membership meeting be devoted to the
many constitutional issues that need attention. It was agreed that such a
meeting would be held.

The meeting then adjourned.
______________________________________
The "Binding Arbitration Motion" rejected by the Committee of the Whole at
the Special Membership Meeting on February 9 (as noted in the
minutes of that meeting after they were amended at the SMM on March 3):

That YUFA publicly offer to forego the option of a strike in our upcoming
negotiations, provided that the administration agrees to no lockouts, no
unilateral contract changes, and, if an impasse is reached, binding
arbitration for all outstanding issues.
________________________________________
Motions from the Committee of the Whole at the Special Membership Meeting on
February 9 which were passed at the SMM on March 3:

That the YUFA Executive inform the general membership by electronic
attachment or secure mailout of the main results of the bargaining survey
conducted during Fall 2008 at least 7 days prior to the SGM at which the
YUFA Executive will present its main recommended demands for the forthcoming
contract negotiations and at which YUFA members will have an opportunity to
discuss and vote on all such demands as will be raised at that meeting.

That YUFA Executive act as soon as possible to strike a subcommittee to
produce a discussion paper that places recent labour negotiations and YUFA's
upcoming negotiations within the broader context of cuts to the funding of
post-secondary education, a significant reduction in hiring for
tenure-stream jobs, an increasing reliance on contingent labour, equity
issues, increasing class sizes, and expanding workloads, all of which
contribute to a general erosion of the quality of education.

_____________________________________
Motion coming from the Committee of the Whole which was disallowed by the Chair at the SMM on March 3:
That the bargaining team in the forthcoming negotiations include three members elected by the general membership no later than 31 March 2009.

The motion as amended on the floor by Richard Wellen at the March 3 meeting, allowed, voted on and passed:

Given that the YUFA Constitution provides for the negotiating committee to be appointed by the Executive rather than elected by the membership,
Be it resolved that:
(a) the Executive put out a call inviting members to volunteer to sit on the negotiating committee
(b) the bargaining team hold regular, open membership consultation meetings, at least once monthly, to keep members informed about developments in negotiations.
__________________________________

Motion moved from the floor by Lesley Wood, taken up under 'Other Business' and passed:

That in the interest of full transparency in YUFA's electoral process,

Be it resolved that balloting procedures be clarified to highlight democratic
principles maintaining consistency with Article 8 of the Constitution and
By-law #1, and following the principles of

a) a transparent voters list,
b) double envelope system,
c) secret vote,
d) and provisions for scrutineers,
e) three sealed ballot boxes, one at YUFA, one at Glendon campus in a prominent
place, and one at Keele campus in a prominent place.

Further be it resolved that the detailed description of the process be
circulated on YUFA-M by March 30, and at least one month prior to the
next scheduled officers' election.

Ed. Note: Motions and corrections of particular significance for the democratization of YUFA and the bargaining process are highlighted in this appended list.