Precipitous Settlement ???

We have now entered a new period of bargaining with a newly-constituted Bargaining Team. This Bargaining Team has the same Chief Negotiator as in 2003. This could be a concern, since in 2003 YUFA and the Employer reached an early settlement which was brought to the membership in a ratification meeting during the late summer, in August.

This ratification meeting in the summer of 2003 was –not surprisingly –poorly attended. Extreme consternation was expressed because a deal was being brought to the membership before the commencement of term when most members would be available. There were calls, in fact, for the resignation of YUFA’s president. It was felt that the membership was not being given a proper opportunity to examine the merits of the deal struck between the two parties. In recent weeks a fear has been expressed that something like this could happen again in this bargaining year.

During one the recent YUFA Special Membership meetings (3 March), a motion was passed requiring the Bargaining Team to report to the membership on a regular basis to ensure adequate membership participation in the process and feedback to the Bargaining Team. It is important to recall that during the last round of negotiations the BT cancelled a scheduled membership meeting using the strange rationale that feedback from the membership could serve to jeopardize the possibility of arriving at a deal with the Employer. The resulting contract introduced cumbersome language surrounding workload which for the most part did not resolve the issue at York, where variable workload practice still prevails.

Many bargaining positions ratified by the membership during the last General Membership meeting could come under serious scrutiny, especially in the economic climate the university now finds itself in. Advances in workload could in fact be clawed back, leaving York as a university with variable workload practices throughout the institution and without the benchmark of 2+2 which is in keeping with other universities in Canada.

What members should fear are the possible trade-offs that will come with an early settlement. Although language on carriage rights was withdrawn from the bargaining proposals, this language could return. Constraints on carriage rights could be seen as a way of diminishing the number of grievances and arbitrations and their cost to the employer. It should be noted that there are those in the union (particularly in YUFA Executive) who would like to reduce the number of grievances and arbitrations as a cost-saving measure as well.

YUFA is bound by the motion passed on 3 March to announce meetings of the Bargaining Team with the membership in the summer as opposed to merely a quick and dirty ratification meeting for a new settlement. The membership should certainly be on the lookout for a very early settlement such as that which was proposed and ratified in 2003.