With the fall academic term now in full swing, it was a packed week for your Units 1, 2, & 3 Bargaining Team (BT) who met with the employer on Tuesday, held the weekly BT meeting on Wednesday, and hosted an all-units townhall on Thursday.
The BT was thrilled to see so many members attend our last bargaining session with the Employer! Your next chance to attend bargaining with the employer is Tuesday, September 22, from 2 – 5PM in room 280N in York Lanes or on Zoom.
Last week, the BT was presented with 6 proposals or counters from the Employer:
- An Employer proposal for Unit 1 and Unit 2 (two separate proposals) regarding deadlines for acceptance of written offer of appointments
- An Employer proposal for Unit 1 and 2s regarding the informal and formal evaluation processes
- An Employer counter proposal for Unit 1 and 2s on tutor job definitions
- An Employer proposal for Unit 2s on establishing a second round of CSSP postings
- An Employer proposal for Unit 1 on increasing the number of ticketed course directorships
The BT was disappointed to see that after an almost two-week break from the bargaining table, the Employer chose to provide only one counter to our Union proposals and continued to be unresponsive to any of our proposals regarding wages, benefits, leaves, or funds.
The Employer’s Bargaining Team opted to put their time and energy towards creating new proposals that seemingly do not address any current, relevant, or actual problems in the interactions between the Employer and our members, proposals that the Employer struggled to motivate, or at times, even comprehend.
Of most concern, was the Employer’s proposal for informal and formal member evaluations which had a clear concession on the table that would eliminate CUPE 3903 members from being eligible to be evaluators in the process, as well as a proposal to increase the number of ticketed course directorships for Unit 1 members that would indirectly impact the availability of course directorships for Unit 2 members.
In the weeks prior to our September 15 bargaining session, the BT indicated to the Employer that if they continued to drag out or provide no responses to our proposals, and further delay the bargaining process, then the BT would seek the membership’s approval to file for conciliation, a process in which the Ministry of Labour appoints a conciliator (third party) to assist both sides to try to get closer to agreement.
After almost 90 hours at the bargaining table over the last two and half months, and only 8 signed off proposals from the Employer, the BT feels it’s time to move forward in the next stage of bargaining and file for conciliation and will be seeking support from members at this week’s General Membership Meeting (GMM) on Thursday, September 24, 1 – 4PM to do just that. We encourage all members to attend on Thursday so you can have your say in this very important next stage at the table.
In solidarity,
CUPE 3903 Bargaining Team (Units 1, 2, & 3)
bargaining@cupe3903.org
Click here to read previous BT reports, and check the calendar for upcoming bargaining-related happenings.