CUPE 3903

August General Membership Meeting
2025-08-21 11:00 - 14:00 (America/Toronto) | Vari Hall 3006, 198 York Blvd, North York, Ontario, Canada
We are hosting a hybrid General Membership Meeting on August 21st from 11AM – 2PM! All members are encouraged to attend. The in-person location is Vari Hall 3006.
To register for the meeting, click this link. Please register in advance! Make sure to register at the link even if you’re attending in-person so that we can better estimate numbers and you can receive voting ballots via email.
The agenda is available here.
In order to register, you will need to provide your employee number, which will be kept confidential. Your employee number is on your monthly pay stub. If you don’t know your employee number, please click here for instructions.
If you require any of the following: ASL interpretation, reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care, or other requests for accommodation, please contact our Staff Representative Equity, Nadia Kanani, at equity@cupe3903.org

Alternative Restructuring Research Team
2025-08-25 13:00 - 14:30 | Zoom
At the next meeting of the Alternative Restructuring Research Team, we will discuss topics to be announced soon!
Our discussion will be part of our ongoing research into how York’s upper administration has reshaped the university to the detriment of the educational mission and the employees who make York work.
If you share this concern and would like to help with some of the research, please get in touch!
To join the research team, contact: Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, at lsu2@cupe3903.org.

U5 Bargaining Prep!
2025-08-26 10:00 - 12:00, 2025-09-02 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-09-09 14:00 - 16:00, 2025-10-02 10:00 - 12:00
A preparatory session for the Unit 5 Bargaining Team.

August Stewards' Council
2025-08-26 14:00 - 16:00 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
Welcome back to Stewards’ Council! All CUPE 3903 members and especially stewards are encouraged to go to the August Stewards’ Council meeting on August 26th from 2-4PM, hybrid online and in the CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson)!
You can find a Zoom link here, and click here to see the agenda. Planned topics of discussion include BBQ planning, upcoming 50th Anniversary exhibitions, orientation outreach, and solidarity with other locals.
Questions? Ask a Lead Steward!

Prateeksha Pathak, Lead Steward Unit 1, lsu1@cupe3903.org
Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, lsu2@cupe3903.org
Promise Busulwa, Lead Steward Unit 5, lsu5@cupe3903.org

Executive Committee Meeting
2025-08-27 11:00 - 14:00 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
The Executive Committee is holding a meeting. All members are welcome to attend. Only executive committee members can vote. This meeting will be hybrid, with the in-person space being the board room of the CUPE 3903 office (Atkinson 143).
Please click here for the Zoom link for this meeting!

The agenda is available here.
Please contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at chairperson@cupe3903.org for any accessibility requests.

Unit 5 Bargaining
2025-09-05 09:00 - 12:00, 2025-09-11 12:00 - 17:00
This will be a session of Unit 5 bargaining with the Employer. Unit 5 is our newest unit in CUPE 3903, representing workers at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness!

Do you have questions, supportive words, or want to know more about Unit 5 bargaining? Send an email to Promise Busulwa, Lead Steward Unit 5, at lsu5@cupe3903.org or Mackenzie Edwards, Communications Officer, at communications@cupe3903.org

Are you a Unit 5 member who wants to know more about bargaining and get involved? Reach out to Promise Busulwa, Lead Steward Unit 5, at lsu5@cupe3903.org!

TFAC September Meeting
2025-09-08 13:00 - 15:00 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
The Trans Feminist Action Caucus (TFAC) is back! TFAC will be hosting its monthly meeting on September 8th, from 1-3PM. This meeting is hybrid. The in-person meeting will happen in the CUPE 3903 Office at 143 Atkinson. The Zoom link is here, and the agenda will be available soon!
TFAC includes all women, trans, genderqueer, and gender variant members of CUPE 3903! If you’re part of those groups, we want you there.
For TFAC questions or to add an item to the agenda, contact the TFAC Co-Chairs: Océane Nyela, at tfac1@cupe3903.org or Orçun Turan, at tfac2@cupe3903.org.

Executive Committee Meeting
2025-09-09 13:00 - 16:00 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
The Executive Committee is holding a meeting. All members are welcome to attend. Only executive committee members can vote. This meeting will be hybrid, with the in-person space being the board room of the CUPE 3903 office (Atkinson 143).
The agenda is available here. You can click here for the Zoom link.

Please contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at chairperson@cupe3903.org for any accessibility requests.

Unit 2 Stewards' Council
2025-09-17 14:30 - 15:30
Reboot! Unit 2 members are warmly invited to biweekly meetings at which we can discuss our issues and how to build a better workplace for all at York. No registration required. If you are a member of other units and are interested in unit 2 issues, you are most welcome to join us too!

WHEN: Wednesday September 17, 2:30pm-3:30pm
ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82044477717?pwd=[REDACTED]

Meetings will continue every two weeks as follows:

Oct 1, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 15, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 29, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 12, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 26, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Dec 10, 2:30pm-3:30pm

Discussion topics might include:

Hiring (is the employer following the CA on postings, NRAs, sending contracts, etc?)
What discussions are taking place in departments, Faculty Councils and Senate?
What union campaigns and events are we building?
How can we prepare for bargaining in 2026?
How do we build unit 2 community?

For more information please contact Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, at lsu2@cupe3903.org.

September General Membership Meeting
2025-09-18 14:30 - 17:30 | Accolade West 307, 89 York Blvd, North York, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada
We are hosting a hybrid General Membership Meeting on September 18th from 2:30pm – 5:30pm! All members are encouraged to attend.
To register for the meeting, click this link. Please register in advance! Make sure to register at the link even if you’re attending in-person so that we can better estimate numbers and you can receive voting ballots via email.
The in-person location is Accolade West 307. The agenda is available here.
In order to register, you will need to provide your employee number, which will be kept confidential. Your employee number is on your monthly pay stub. If you don’t know your employee number, please click here for instructions.
This GMM will have elections and byelections! Consider putting your name forward to get involved with committees or as a delegate to the CUPE Ontario Convention.
If you require any of the following: ASL interpretation, reimbursement for childcare/caregiver/attendant care, or other requests for accommodation, please contact our Staff Representative Equity, Nadia Kanani, at equity@cupe3903.org.

Draw the Line
2025-09-20 14:00 - 17:00 | Yonge-Dundas, 1 Dundas St E, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2R8, Canada
Endorsed by CUPE 3903! RSVP, and contact Joseph Tohill, Vice-President Unit 2, at vpu2@cupe3903.org to coordinate attending Toronto’s Draw the Line rally on September 20th with other members.
JOIN US! SEPTEMBER 20TH:

2PM Rally & March (Yonge-Dundas)
4PM Speakers & Music (Queen’s Park)

From Draw the Line:
“We refuse to stand by while the government and Canada’s richest corporations hoard wealth, gut our public services, fuel climate collapse, attack migrants, exploit Indigenous lands, and prop up a genocide in Palestine. They think that if they can overwhelm and divide us, we won’t fight back. But climate justice, migrant justice, economic justice, Indigenous rights, and anti-war movements are uniting to prove them wrong.
On Saturday, September 20th, we’re drawing the line— for People. For Peace. For the Planet.
From rallies to strikes, marches to gatherings, this September 20th, communities will mobilize across the country and demand that Prime Minister Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction— or a just and safe future for all of us.
This world is ours to build. This is our line to draw.”

A Union for Academics???: 50 Years of CUPE 3903
2025-09-22 - 2025-10-03 | Eleanor Winters Art Gallery, 129 Winters College, 72 Winters Lane, North York, Ontario, 7A 2C5, Canada
In fall 1975, the York University GAA won their case before the Ontario Labour Relations Board, allowing for the certification of the third union representing “part-time” academics in Canada.
Two name changes, three new units, seven strikes, thirty collective agreements, and one new affiliation later, CUPE 3903 marks its 50th Anniversary with a public exhibition of archival records, artefacts, and memories!
Organized by the Archive Committee and eager volunteers, “A Union for Academics???: Fifty Years of CUPE 3903” will run from September 22 – October 3 at the Eleanor Winters Art Gallery (129 Winters College, Keele Campus).
Visitors are invited to imagine a different history of York University and a broader academic labour movement.
The exhibition is open weekdays (not weekends!), from 10AM-4PM. Admission is free, and pictures are welcome! See you there.

Alternative Restructuring Research Team
2025-09-22 13:00 - 14:30
At the next meeting of the Alternative Restructuring Research Team, we will discuss the agenda packages for the Senate and Board of Governors, as well as the final Faculties of the Future report.
Our discussion will be part of our ongoing research into how York’s upper administration has reshaped the university to the detriment of the educational mission and the employees who make York work.
If you share this concern and would like to help with some of the research, please get in touch!
To join the research team, contact: Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, at lsu2@cupe3903.org.

Executive Committee Meeting
2025-09-24 11:00 - 14:00 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
The Executive Committee is holding a meeting. All members are welcome to attend. Only executive committee members can vote. This meeting will be hybrid, with the in-person space being the board room of the CUPE 3903 office (Atkinson 143).
The agenda is available here. The Zoom link can be found here.

Please contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at chairperson@cupe3903.org for any accessibility requests.

Conversion and LSTA Application Workshop
2025-09-29 11:00 - 12:30 | Zoom
Join our Conversion and Careers Advisor, Professor Kym Bird, for the first in a series of workshops on preparing your application for conversion and other tenure-stream hiring searches at York. This first workshop will focus primarily on helping Unit 2 members in the Conversion (or “Affirmative Action”) Pool to prepare their applications for conversion appointments.
Monday 29 September, 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. (online at this link via Zoom)
The workshop will focus on advising members on:

How the conversion process works
How to prepare strong files in teaching, research, and service
How to make yourself as attractive as possible as a candidate for potential upcoming positions at York

The best application files are constructed over time! An application for a conversion appointment, for example, must include a current curriculum vitae; letters of reference (including external letters); and an assessment by the hiring unit of the candidate’s teaching, research, and scholarly or creative work, their service potential, how their appointment fulfills departmental needs, and (where appropriate and in light of the candidate’s unique career path) an assessment of the candidate’s potential for participation in graduate teaching and supervision.
Members applying for conversion are generally required to submit their applications in February for appointments beginning July 1. (More details of the process will be communicated later by Faculty Relations and the Union.)
Conversion and Career Advice Workshops are open to all CUPE 3903 members interested in compiling a strong application package for conversion and LSTA appointments or who might, in future, be a position to apply for employment under either program.
Professor Kym Byrd is a YUFA member in the Division of Humanities and a former CUPE 3903 Unit 2 member who earned a conversion appointment. Her primary role as Career Advisor is to assist contract faculty members in career planning and Professional Development to prepare them to apply for conversion and tenure-stream applications at York. In addition to these workshops. Dr. Bird will be holding two additional workshops before the conversions’ application deadline. Details of the future workshop will be posted online and in the CUPE 3903 newsletter.
Dr. Bird is also available for one-on-one consultations about building your application file. Contact Dr. Byrd at kbird@yorku.ca.

Welcome Back BBQ!
2025-09-29 12:00 - 16:00 | Roy McMurtry Green
Monday, September 29, 12pm-4pm
Location: Roy McMurtry Green (between Atkinson and Osgoode Hall) just across our office, which is located on 96 The Pond Road / 143 Atkinson Building.

Come meet new friends and catch up with old ones at the annual CUPE 3903 Welcome Back BBQ! There will be vegan, halal, and kosher food options. Accessible washrooms are available nearby.
We’re still looking for volunteers; contact Prateeksha Pathak (lsu1@cupe3903.org) or Neil Braganza (lsu2@cupe3903.org) to lend a hand!

Unit 5 Bargaining Prep!
2025-09-30 14:00 - 16:00
This will be a session of Unit 5 bargaining preparation. Unit 5 is our newest unit in CUPE 3903, representing workers at the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness!

Do you have questions, supportive words, or want to know more about Unit 5 bargaining? Send an email to Mackenzie Edwards, Communications Officer, at cupe3903comms@gmail.com.

Unit 2 Stewards' Council
2025-10-01 14:30 - 15:30
Unit 2 members are warmly invited to biweekly meetings at which we can discuss our issues and how to build a better workplace for all at York. No registration required. If you are a member of other units and are interested in unit 2 issues, you are most welcome to join us too!

WHEN: Wednesday, October 1st, 2:30pm-3:30pm
ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82044477717?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meetings continue every two weeks as follows:

Oct 1, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 15, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 29, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 12, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 26, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Dec 10, 2:30pm-3:30pm

Discussion topics might include:

Hiring (is the employer following the CA on postings, NRAs, sending contracts, etc?)
What discussions are taking place in departments, Faculty Councils and Senate?
What union campaigns and events are we building?
How can we prepare for bargaining in 2026?
How do we build unit 2 community?

For more information please contact Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, at lsu2@cupe3903.org.

Reception for "A Union for Academics???: 50 Years of CUPE 3903"
2025-10-02 15:30 - 17:30 | Eleanor Winters Art Gallery, 129 Winters College, 72 Winters Lane, North York, Ontario, 7A 2C5, Canada
You’re invited to a reception and exhibition tour for “A Union for Academics???: 50 Years of CUPE 3903,” a free, member-organized exhibition! Light refreshments will be served.

Where: Eleanor Winters Gallery (129 Winters College, York University, Keele Campus)
When: Thursday, October 2, 3:30 to 5:30pm

For any questions, contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at chairperson@cupe3903.org

Executive Committee Meeting
2025-10-03 13:00 - 16:00
The Executive Committee is holding a meeting. All members are welcome to attend. Only executive committee members can vote.
Please click here for the Zoom link for this meeting!
The agenda is available here.
Please contact Zoë Newman, Chairperson, at cupe3903chairperson@gmail.com for any accessibility requests.

Bargaining Research & Preparation Committee Meeting
2025-10-06 11:00 - 12:00
The next Bargaining Research & Preparation Committee meeting is scheduled for October 6th, 11AM. All are welcome!
We’re collecting data on wage and benefit gains within the college and university sector in Canada over the past several years. We’re also preparing a survey for the general membership to determine priorities for the upcoming round of bargaining. We will be at the local’s barbecue on the 29th meeting rank & file members and asking for their input.
Contact 3903brc@gmail.com if you want to join the meeting, get involved, or know more.

3903 Pal Sol Working Group: FOI Skills Session
2025-10-06 16:00 - 17:30 | FSC 430, 115 Ottawa Rd, North York, Ontario, Canada
From the rank-and-file members in the CUPE 3903 Palestine Solidarity Working Group:
Want to build your organising skills? Want to learn how to file a Freedom of Information (FOI) request? Under provincial law (FIPPA), universities (and other public institutions) are required to retain records of their internal communications and decision-making processes — records that members of the public can request to be disclosed. Needless to say, this can be a vital tool for holding institutions to account. Join the CUPE 3903 Pal Sol Working Group for a skills-sharing session on FIPPA / FOIs on October 6th from 4:00-5:30pm in FSC 430.
*The FOI session will be followed by an introduction to the Pal Sol WG’s own research work aimed at documenting York’s deep ties to anti-Palestinian agendas.

Unit 5 Bargaining Prep!
2025-10-07 14:00 - 16:00

October Stewards' Council
2025-10-14 10:30 - 12:30 | CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson), 96 The Pond Road, North York, ON, M3J 2S5, Canada
All CUPE 3903 members and especially stewards are encouraged to go to the October Stewards’ Council meeting on October 14th at 10:30AM-12:30PM, hybrid online and in the CUPE 3903 Office (143 Atkinson)!
You can find a Zoom link here. The agenda will be available soon. We’ll be having a debrief of the CUPE National Convention, discussion about issues with Unit 1 TAships, plus more to share about an upcoming Know Your Rights session!
Questions? Ask a Lead Steward!

Unit 2 Stewards' Council
2025-10-15 14:30 - 15:30
Unit 2 members are warmly invited to biweekly meetings at which we can discuss our issues and how to build a better workplace for all at York. No registration required. If you are a member of other units and are interested in unit 2 issues, you are most welcome to join us too!

WHEN: Wednesday, October 15th, 2:30pm-3:30pm
ZOOM: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82044477717?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meetings continue every two weeks as follows:

Oct 1, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 15, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Oct 29, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 12, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Nov 26, 2:30pm-3:30pm
Dec 10, 2:30pm-3:30pm

Discussion topics might include:

Hiring (is the employer following the CA on postings, NRAs, sending contracts, etc?)
What discussions are taking place in departments, Faculty Councils and Senate?
What union campaigns and events are we building?
How can we prepare for bargaining in 2026?
How do we build unit 2 community?

For more information please contact Neil Braganza, Lead Steward Unit 2, at lsu2@cupe3903.org.

Trans ID Workshop
2025-10-20 12:30 - 13:30
The Trans Feminist Action Caucus will be hosting a Trans ID Workshop on October 20th at 12:30 PM facilitated by Dana Teagle.
Dana Teagle (she/her) is a web developer who has led workshops on name and gender marker changes since 2021. The workshop will cover related to the name change and gender marker change process in Ontario and Canada.
She is also the webmaster of TG I.D., an online resource collecting information on how to update legal names, gender markers, and identity documents as a trans, non-binary, Two-Spirit, or gender non-conforming individual living in Ontario, Canada. You can learn more about Dana and her work here.
You can register for the workshop here. If you cannot attend but have questions for our facilitator, please submit them by email to the TFAC Co-Chairs, Océane (tfac1@cupe3903.org) and Orçun (tfac2@cupe3903.org).
This workshop will be followed by the October TFAC meeting!
