labour relations

Richard Wellen

An Analysis and Commentary on the Proposed Teaching Load Reduction Framework

The likely result will be annual competitions among both units and colleagues for course releases. We know the university has been avidly studying the use of performance indicators, and they have been canvassing Faculties on this topic. The acceptance of this framework is almost certain to result in a significant intensification of post-tenure performance review within units. In fact, one cannot avoid the suspicion that the reason the parties negotiated a vague framework with only very general principles, was so that performance indicators could more easily be smuggled in.

Marcia Macaulay and Yvette Szmidt

On September 17 there will be a meeting to ratify or not a tentative settlement between the employer and YUFA. This tentative settlement fails to reflect the bargaining positions which YUFA members approved and gave the Bargaining Team a mandate to negotiate at a General Membership Meeting on June 2, 2009. There are a number of significant concerns which we wish to bring to your attention.

Marcia Macaulay

What members should fear in the case of a precipitous settlement is a trading off of the bargaining positions ratified by the membership during the last General Membership meeting. Advances in workload could in fact be clawed back, leaving York as a university without the benchmark of 2+2 which is in keeping with other universities in Canada. And although the Executive's language on carriage rights was withdrawn from the bargaining proposals, this language could return, to the detriment of the members.

Richard Wellen

At our spring membership meeting a near unanimous motion was passed directing the Executive to hold consultation meetings with the membership at least monthly during bargaining in order to keep members up to date. Apparently there is no intention to comply with that motion as we have already exceeded the one month threshold.

For those who are not in YUFA, or for those in YUFA who were expecting a somewhat visible bargaining process, please take a look at the message below from YUFA about negotiations (Bargaining Update # 2)

The YUFA Democracy Caucus

In your statement to YUFA members on May 25 you do not mention that you have blocked all attempts to discuss and resolve the election irregularities by the Executive, and have discounted the motion passed by Stewards Council reaffirming its procedures for the election...

Jody Berland and Ricardo Grinspun

Challenging times require strong collective action to defend values of fairness, integrity, and democratic accountability. It is deeply disappointing to see the York University Faculty Association failing to stand up to the task. We are responding to egregious anti-democratic practices in the Executive of that Association, most recently in the election of Steward Council Representatives to YUFA Executive. In this article we offer context and commentary on this event.

Richard Wellen

YUFA has been very ‘cooperative’ in the last decade of negotiations. In consequence, we have won very few improvements in pay and working conditions over those years. In the meantime, we have seen faculty unions at Carleton, Brock and Wilfred Laurier win teaching load reductions that have been refused by our own employer. Now is not the time to fall further behind and make our own members pay the price for the misguided policies of both the employer and the government.