Report Back from A Day of Organizing!
On June 10th, 2024, members of CUPE 3903 came together to discuss where we are, where we’re going, and how we can get there! The members who attended came from different bargaining units and different faculties; some had been working at York for decades, while others will be joining CUPE 3903 in September. While participants were all very different, we all share the most important thing: the desire to build power together to improve working conditions at York University!
Through brainstorming and discussing, we learned that the main issues on people’s minds are remediation pay, restructuring, and how to improve communications to increase solidarity. People also expressed a desire for more social spaces and a need to find organic ways to connect despite our work environment changing so that less of it is in person. The event was opened with discussion and closed with planning next steps, facilitated by the incoming Chairperson Zoë Newman!
We also worked on how to reach more members, how to build campaigns, and discussed what our next steps are to build power and address the problems we are facing. The first workshop, led by the outgoing Chairperson Mackenzie Edwards, highlighted on how to mobilize your fellow members toward actionable change. The second workshop, led by Assistant Staff Representative Maija Duncan, focused on structural ways to build campaigns.
Several attendees agreed to bottom-line wide-ranging initiatives and will be meeting to develop these. The campaigns members devised included workshops to help members understand their pay statements, a remediation-centric petition, and creative ideas for protest swag. Eventually, these initiatives will hopefully be brought to the next Stewards’ Council. If you are interested in getting involved with one of these campaigns, email cupe3903chairperson@gmail.com so that you can be connected to a member-organizer!
We had a great time discussing and working together; this is only the beginning. There’s a lot of work to do, but the good news is that there’s a willingness to do it! To be part of future events, make sure to subscribe to the union’s newsletter and attend Stewards’ Council on June 25th at 1PM.