Collective bargaining for Units 1, 2, & 3 is heating up! CUPE 3903’s bargaining with York has several stages that are important to keep your eye on as a member:
- Surveys, BT elections, drafting bargaining proposals: Learning about what members’ priorities are, assembling a Bargaining Team (BT), and drafting language to help improve members’ protections and working conditions
- Earliest possible notice to bargain: In this bargaining cycle for CUPE 3903, that’s June 1st, 2026.
- Bargaining with the employer begins!
- Conciliation: a government-appointed neutral third party called a Conciliator can help the sides get closer so that negotiations proceed effectively
- Strike Mandate Vote: A Strike Mandate Vote (SMV) is a legal requirement to strike, but historically, it’s always been necessary to do an SMV even when there isn’t going to be a strike to get the employer to bargain seriously.
- Ratification OR strike vote: If we reach a satisfactory deal, members get to vote on ratifying their new contracts. If there are serious problems preventing a satisfactory deal from being reached, then labour action becomes an option to assert more leverage in the process.
You can also see these bargaining stages illustrated below, as a thermometer! Get engaged by attending union meetings/events and checking the newsletter for updates.
Questions or feedback about bargaining? Email the Bargaining Team at bargaining@cupe3903.org
