YUFA Ad Hoc CUPE 3903 Support & Communications Committee: Communiqué on Binding Arbitration

24 Nov 2008 – Communiqué on Binding Arbitration
Collective Bargaining, not Binding Arbitration, will resolve this dispute.

The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) calls on the Employer to cease its public calls for binding arbitration as a method of resolving the CUPE 3903 strike. A fair and equitable resolution to this dispute will be found through collective bargaining, not binding arbitration.

Binding arbitration is a tool used to reach agreement under certain specific circumstances that don’t apply here. These circumstances include:

1. negotiated alternative that has failed and the parties have reached an impasse;

2. both parties agree on the need for binding arbitration.

These circumstances have not been met in the current labour dispute between CUPE 3903 and the Employer. Negotiations have not moved ahead, at least in part because of the Employer's insistence on binding arbitration. CUPE 3903 does not agree on the need for binding arbitration and has stated publicly that it will not accept an outcome imposed in that manner.

As a result, the Employer's continued public campaign for binding arbitration is harmful to the negotiating process. It diverts time and energy from the important work of reaching a fair agreement, and increases the distance between the parties. Dropping the call for binding arbitration would go some way to reach a speedy and fair resolution.

YUFA Ad Hoc CUPE 3903 Support & Communications Committee

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