Roughly two months into joint sessions with the Employer, we made some small progress with bargaining this week. The Units 1, 2, & 3 Bargaining Team (BT) exchanged proposals, information requests, and passbacks with the employer after creating a list of ‘low-hanging fruit’ (proposals where we thought consensus would be forthcoming). However, there is plenty the Employer has yet to commit to in writing, and issues on which we are clearly on different pages.
Take, for example, the Employer’s counterproposal on Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI): a noble pledge to follow the handful of extant legal guidelines around AI in the workplace, to continue following the university’s own policies about protecting our members’ personal files and data, and to form an ad hoc committee to discuss AI with the union after the next CA’s signature. This limited counterproposal was a hard no from us for many reasons, namely their lack of attention to the key issues CUPE 3903 members raised, including: privacy and data protection, meaningful consent, accountability, intellectual property, and job security.
At the table on September 3, the Employer bemoaned the potential “unintended consequences” of building parameters around AI in our Collective Agreement given their desire to retain “full institutional flexibility” around AI. Don’t worry, we told them how dystopian that sounded and reminded them that our proposal isn’t about constraining research and innovation, but rather thinking through the role of AI in the workplace as a managerial tool (you know, the kind of thing that gets addressed in Collective Agreements).
We left off on Thursday, September 3 by asking the Employer to come back after next week’s Back-to-School Bargaining Break with a serious proposal on AI, as well as a comprehensive proposal package including monetary issues.
On their end, the Employer is allegedly cooking up proposals on job postings, evaluations (which is at best ominous), and health and safety for us to look forward to. During our “general conversation” on health and safety, the Employer did flag that there were “significant challenges” to our proposal on ensuring appropriate air quality because of the state of York’s facilities. Labour Relations’ assurances that they breathe the same air as us and ‘get it’ are not particularly encouraging, nor do they address the fact that our members, fellow workers, and students simply deserve clean air — no matter how architecturally complex for the Employer.
Throughout September, the Bargaining Team will be chatting with new and returning members as campus life kicks off. You can join us at the All Units Bargaining Townhall on September 17 from 10AM – 12PM, the upcoming CUPE 3903 BBQ (date and time T.B.A.), and at our weekly BT prep meeting on September 16 leading up to the September 24 General Membership Meeting (all events you should totally come to). We told the Employer that the energy, effort, and consideration they brought to the table after our orientation week break would guide our conversations with members about potential conciliation and next steps at the bargaining table.
Have a great first week of classes!
(PS – Unfortunately, we have not heard from the squirrels living in York Lanes’ ceiling this week.)
In solidarity,
CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (Units 1, 2, & 3)
bargaining@cupe3903.org
Click here to read previous BT reports, and make sure to check the calendar for upcoming bargaining and events.