January 30, 2009

1. Next GMM - Wednesday, February 4, 6 PM-9 PM, Trinity-St. Paul Church (427 Bloor Street West) [Details below]
2. Bargaining Update - January 30 [Details below]
3. 3903 First Day Back at Work Gathering - Monday, February 2, 8 AM, Vari Hall [Details below]
4. Call-out for Chief Steward, Unit 3 [Details below]
5. Strike HQ/Office Hours [Details below]
6. YU Free Press Seeks Post-Strike Content - Deadline February 6 [Details below]
7. Undergraduate Financial Resources [Details below]
8. Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee - Delegate Call-Out and Elections [Details below]

1. The next GMM is on Wed., February 4, at Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church, from 6 PM to 9 PM.

Trinity-St. Paul Church is at 427 Bloor Street West (Spadina Subway Station). Please note that as we are no longer on strike, attendance at GMMs is not considered strike duty and will not be paid; however, we will have no shortage of things to talk about!

TTC tokens will be available. Food is expected to be provided, as are provisions with regard to child care, but these are still being arranged. More details will be posted when they become available.

2. Bargaining Update, January 30

Many thanks to Matt from the Bargaining Team for the following update:

On Wednesday and Thursday this week, January 28 and 29, the BT was preparing for arbitration of our demands. This involves liaising with the lawyer representing CUPE 3903 and the employer and their lawyers. We have been working on choosing an arbitrator, defining the terms of arbitration, reassuring what has been agteed-to already, defining the Back-to-Work Protocol, and clarifying what will be implemented immediately upon resumption of school as opposed to what will have to wait until the completion of the arbitration process.

At the moment, the basic timeline for arbitration looks something like this:

A day or two of “mediated arbitration” will occur (we are informed that this will probably not take place until the week of February 9th). At this meeting the arbitrator play a mediator role in trying to get the parties to agree on remaining issues.
Whatever is not agreed to at this mediated arbitration will provedd to arbitration. We will have a month or so to do research and prepare briefs on each item that contain rationale, arguments, facts, comparisons to other University unions, etc… These briefs will be presented to the arbitrator and a final decision will be made. The whole process can take up to 3 months.

At present we are focusing on the Back-to-Work Protocol and on trying to get wage increases, back-pay, and some benefits to be effective immediately (so that we don’t have to wait months for members to receive the new health benefits, for instance). The employer will have to agree to this.

At this stage we will be compliling as much info as we can, so we welcome any relevant information: tidbits, facts, history, etc - anything anyone may have to offer could be helpful, so please pass it along.

3. 3903 First Day Back at Work Gathering on Monday, February 2, 8 AM, Vari Hall

Join us in the Vari Hall Rotunda on Monday morning! Bring your blanket applications, and we’ll help each other return to work with our heads held high.

If you’re worried about the atmosphere in your classroom next week, you have a few options. See below or LINK HERE for a message from the CUPE 3903 Health and Safety Committee.

- bring a buddy, to help answer questions and offer moral support
- make an agreement with a fellow teacher in an adjoining room, so that if one of you needs support, the other will come to lend a hand
- agree to set aside fifteen minutes at the beginning of class for the students to vent their feelings about the strike before going on with teaching
- contact your steward to find out what other options are available in your department
- in the event that things get hairy, exercise your right to refuse unsafe work; call Security if necessary (x33333), get to a place of safety, and contact your department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies

Remember, you’re the best judge of your own class and your own capacities. We went on strike for things that would help us be more effective in the classroom, so don’t hesitate to ask for help and support if you need it.

4. Call-out for Chief Steward Unit 3

Courtesy of our elections officers:

Following the opening of the executive position of Chief Steward-Unit 3, the nomination period for this position will be open as of Monday, Feb 2, 2009 and closes on Monday, Feb 16, 2009.

In order to be eligible for this position, you must be a member of Unit 3.

Those who would like to nominate themselves must fill out a nomination form, have it signed by two members in good standing and drop it in the nominations box in CUPE 3903’s official location (subject to change), currently the Strike Headquarters. They are also required to sign the registry, which will be next to the box. Given the current circumstance, we also ask that you forward an email nomination to the electoral officers (contact information below). If the position is contested; a campaign period (TBA) will immediately follow the nomination period, with ensuing election details also being posted.

CUPE 3903 is strongly committed to equity within our union. We welcome and encourage involvement of persons with one or more disabilities, lesbian, bisexual, gay, two-spirited, queer and trans persons, persons from racialized groups, Aboriginal persons, and women.

Those who have any questions are invited to email the two chief electoral officers, Preethy Sivakumar (preethy.sivakumar@gmail.com) and Karen Walker (k1walker@yorku.ca). Please see below for a full description of the position responsibilities.

CHIEF STEWARD UNIT 1/CHIEF STEWARD UNIT 2/CHIEF STEWARD UNIT 3
These positions shall be responsible for the mobilization/coordination of all departmental/divisional stewards from all units, and for the calling of all stewards’ council meetings. They shall report to the executive on all business conducted at the stewards’ council meetings, including all recommendations for executive decision or action.

5. Strike HQ/Office Hours
Now that we are no longer on strike, we are going back to regular office hours. The office will be open daily from 9am-5pm, and will, for the moment, still be located at Strike Headquarters–635 Petrolia Road, 416-661-2628–until further notice.

6. YU Free Press Seeks Post-Strike Content
Ali Mustafa from the York University Free Press, which has stood in solidarity with us both through the strike and during the lead-up thereto, is looking for contributions from members:

Hi All,

I know that you must be very busy right now, not to mention very upset, but I just wanted to contact you to let you know that we will be coming out with our next issue within a week or so and we would like as much as I’m sure you would to see some good post-strike coverage/analysis - particularly around BTWL, tuition (rebates, interest, etc), next steps, communication with undergrad students, etc.

I think since you are very unlikely to recieve either the space or positive coverege in the Excalibur or elsewhere that you might want to put some effort into having something around these issues in the upcoming issue of the YUFP. Right now we have one article around the ‘neoliberal university’, but would like to see more, especially from the vantage point of your membership in response to the resumption of class in the context of the BTWL just passed.

Perhaps you could send a little message or callout over your lists to let them know that we are soliciting content from CUPE 3903 members about the issues that I have listed above - or anything else really. The only problem is that we will go to print fairly soon, so the deadline is around 1 week (something in by next weekend would be ideal). If any of you want to write something, all the better.

In solidarity,

Ali

7. Undergraduate Financial Resources

It’s been a hard slog for so many of us, but a large number of undergraduate students have also experienced financial hardship–or anticipate financial hardship in the next year–as a result of the strike. Feel free to let your students know about funds available to undergraduates. LINK HERE or copy this url: http://www.3903strike.ca/yu-financial-assistance-for-students-due-to-labour-disruption.
8. Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee - Delegate Call-Out and Elections

CUPE 3903 will be sending six delegates to the Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee conference from February 19th to the 22nd in Windsor. Presently, we will need an election to fill the delegate rolls at the next GMM. If you are interested in attending, please send an e-mail to ncecckin@hotmail.com by Sunday at midnight.

The Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee is a voluntary association of CUPE locals totaling more than 20,000 members working in the university sector. This includes security, parking, skilled trades, clerical, administrative, caretaking, teaching, food service, technical, research and library workers. Most work directly for the province’s universities, although some work for contractors on campuses.

The OUWCC’s activities include coordinating university bargaining and province-wide campaigns, political action on university issues, and facilitating information-sharing between locals.

LINK HERE for more information on the OUWCC, please visit

LINK HERE to see the 2008 report of the OUWCC and the current action plan.