YUFA Ad Hoc CUPE Support & Communications Committee: Stop Disputing Portable Toilets & Start Negotiating in Good Faith

5 Dec 08 – Communiqué: Stop Disputing Portable Toilets & Start Negotiating in Good Faith; YUFA urges the Employer to Engage in Principled Bargaining

Union negotiators sometimes refer to 'principled' vs. 'positional' bargaining. In principled bargaining, both sides approach negotiation as an opportunity to solve a problem. In positional bargaining, both sides seek to score points on issues and to influence opinions as well as contract language. Over the course of the CUPE 3903 strike, we have seen several examples of 'positional' bargaining by the Employer. These actions undermine the work of both bargaining teams and pose additional risks to the collegiality of the University.

First, we strongly disagree with the Employer's use of Y-File and the York University Website to ridicule CUPE 3903. There are several examples of this practice: see especially 14 November 2008: “Does CUPE 3903 really want to settle this dispute?” and the 1 December 2008 news release stating that the mediator had “suspended” negotiations. The mediator's own letter (1 December 2008) does not use the word “suspended” (the Employer also published the mediator's letter in full.

We call on the Employer to stop using Y-File and the York University Website as a reflection solely of its own views. York University's communications, including its Websites, are addressed to and should be the common property of the entire community, including students, part-time and contract faculty, teaching assistants, faculty, staff, and the administration. These communications to the public misrepresent the diversity of opinion at York University. They are also are harmful to collegiality: all parties will have to return to function as a community once the dispute is over. They present an immature York community and suggest to the public that there is more acrimony than sense at York University as we approach its 50th birthday.

We accept that the Employer has a right to publicly communicate information and its own perspective. But we call on the Employer to allow Y-File and the York University Website to reflect all of the views of the community members, including those of CUPE 3903. These communications should provide links to all of the relevant views on the current dispute, including those of the Employer, CUPE 3903, and YUFA.

Second, we have been embarrassed to learn from CUPE executives and members of the bargaining team about the amount of energy and time the Employer has put into disputes over portable toilets, involving claims of trespass on the CUPE 3903 picket lines. We have learned that the Employer disallowed the portable toilets and continues to refuse to sign a written agreement that the portable toilets will not be touched, citing concerns about liability. There are obvious health and safety considerations here, with members of the University community outdoors in the cold for long periods of time, which make this dispute particularly shameful. The Employer should allow a picket protocol that protects the health and safety of all members of the community, and devote its valuable time and energy to the substantive issues that will resolve this strike.

YUFA Ad Hoc CUPE Support & Communications Committee

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