All Posts Tagged With: "CUPE 3903"

Leave for Christmas vacation

The CUPE 3903 sit-in at the offices of the York University president ended Friday afternoon.

With this, the Christmas break is underway at York University. I’m not expecting the positions of the two sides to move closer during the break.

What will be interesting to see is if CUPE forms a picket line in January or continues its new tactics.

Fall term exams might be cancelled for nearly 50,000 students

York University says unless a four-week-long strike by teaching assistants is not over by next Monday, make-up classes and exams will be cancelled for the rest of the term.

Audio: Ontario Minister of Labour on York strike
Also read: Nervous York students demand gov’t action

Members of CUPE 3903 have been on strike since Nov. 6, keeping nearly 50,000 students out of class. According to York’s Executive Commitee of Senate, it will be impossible to reschedule classes and make time for exams before the holidays unless the dispute ends by Dec. 15.

“Unless a ratified settlement results in an end to the disruption… there will not be sufficient time to issue a notice of resumption and to conduct even a limited number of make up classes for courses that have been suspended,” reads a press release issued on the Executive Committee of Senate’s website.

Regardless of when the strike is resolved, no classes or exams will be held Dec. 20 to 23.

Negotiations between the union and York University administration broke down after only three days of negotiations. There are no additional meetings between the two groups scheduled at this time.

University of Toronto teaching assistants and lab demonstrators voted 63 per cent in favour of a strike, which was announced today. The good news for U of T students is that the union will not be able to legally strike until January, meaning all classes and exams will proceed as normal in the fall term.

Union says university “deceptively” hiding behind economic recession

Dozens of York University students descended on the Ontario legislature today to demand government intervention to end a nearly month-old strike by York’s teaching assistants, graduate assistants, and contract faculty.

See also: Mediator suspends York talks

The strike, which began Nov. 6, has left 50,000 students out of class and concerned how they will be affected by the strike. As the dispute drags on, students are concerned about the school year extending into May and costing them summer employment opportunities.

The protest comes at a critical impasse in the dispute with the provincial mediator saying the two sides are not close to an agreement and less than two weeks before the provincial legislature recesses for a two-month winter break.

“We’re hoping to get the premier’s attention with this,” said York student Catherine Divaris, a member of the group YorkNotHostage.com, which organized today’s event. She spoke to CityNews while protesting in front of Queen’s Park.

“We need the legislature to enact back-to-work legislation for this strike because it’s entering the fourth week now and there’s been no action from either side… this is unacceptable.”

The government has refuted demands for back-to-work legislation but an opposition member, Progressive Conservative MPP Peter Shurman (Thornhill) introduced a private member’s bill to force an end to the strike.

Bill 135, Back to Work Act (York University), 2008 calls, “on the Minister of Labour to table back-to-work legislation.” Shurman told the legislative assembly, that if passed, it will impose a three-year contract on the union.

One of the key demands of CUPE 3903 is a two-year contract. Provincially, CUPE is preparing for a possible provincial-wide strike in 2010 to push demands for more government funding to increase pay and benefits for CUPE members at Ontario’s public universities.

“This government can no longer stand by as CUPE 3903 continues to blatantly disregard the consequences of their irresponsible strike. I’ve asked the McGuinty government to step in and show decisive leadership on this issue, but time is running out and they’ve done nothing,” Shurman said after Question Period today.

“When will the McGuinty Liberals realize that the ‘wait and see’ approach is not the way to govern? It didn’t work for the economy and it isn’t working for York U. students,” .

Law caucus decides to reflect the will of their members and resume classes

I’ve had reports from two Osgoode students thus far, one who intends to cross the picket line and one who does not. Both wish to remain anonymous. A summary of their reports is as follows:

The Osgoode student caucus (their representative structure) surveyed the student body and found students were strongly in favour of resuming classes. For that reason, the caucus felt obligated to represent their will.

Concern is very strong regarding how students will be accommodated who choose not to resume classes, as is their right under Senate policy (see the second page). A special meeting is being held off campus on the evening of December 3rd with an Assistant and an Associate Dean of Osgoode for those students.

Part of the issue, here, is that standards for graduation are not in Osgoode’s (or York’s) hands alone. The Law Society of Upper Canada ultimately licenses lawyers in Ontario and thus Osgoode must observe their requirements as well as its own rules.

This issue has been very divisive among students. Some are ideologically aligned with union politics, but among this group there are those who feel this strike has been handled so badly that they aren’t inclined to observe it. Others … well, let’s just say that despite its reputation, Osgoode has its fair share of corporate-oriented law students. They are understandably less conflicted about this and simply want to get back to class.

For myself, I’ll add this commentary. I respect the decision of the Osgoode caucus to reflect the will of their members. I’d do the same in their place, even as I wouldn’t personally cross the line. I find it interesting, however, that the student consensus is so strongly in favour of crossing a picket line. It makes me wonder how much of Osgoode’s reputation for progressive politics is deserved, if it dissipates so easily in the face of paying a price for it. I do not have exact numbers from the survey, however, and I’d love some.

The most significant outstanding question is how students will be accommodated if they don’t cross. I think it’s unconscionable that Osgoode isn’t officially meeting with these students until three days after classes resume. It’s a firm statement about where their priorities are at. And I suspect it’s a deliberate pressure tactic, to push as many students back to class as possible.

If this goes on long enough, I’ll seek direct commentary from the Law Society on the consequences that students face if their year is too severely disrupted. And I also anticipate some reporting from within that Dec. 3 meeting, should we get that far.

Expect another update either tomorrow or on Monday, when I’ve got a well-placed student who is willing to go on the record. Students who will not cross the line are apparently meeting tomorrow evening to discuss the issue amongst themselves.

As always, I hope for the sake of all students affected that this strike ends soon and my updates never appear. But with the failure of provincial mediation, that doesn’t appear likely at the moment.

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Questions and comments are welcome at jeff.rybak@utoronto.ca. In particular, I’d love to hear from more Osgoode students, and I respect your right to communicate off the record if you like. I’ll summarize your opinions as I have done with this update.

Says money from CFS-O, not CFS.

We finally have confirmation from the CFS of what they allege is false in the Excalibur story.

We received the following email today from Ian Boyko, CFS spokesperson:

Every statement about the Canadian Federation of Students in the original post, including the title, is false. The Canadian Federation of Students has not made a donation to CUPE 3903 (“zero dollars”).

As for determining the actions taken by affiliated organizations, you should ask their representatives yourself. The difference between our organization and our affiliates has been explained to you before.

So what he’s saying is that the CFS never gave money to CUPE Local 3093 – “zero dollars.” But, if the Ontario wing of the CFS, the CFS-O, did (and yes, it did), he doesn’t know anything about it. He’s asserting that one organization has nothing to do with the other.

That’s a bit rich.

We’re happy to note that we’re told that the money was provided by CFS-O, but it’s not as is CFS and CFS-O are unrelated organizations. They’re intimately connected and intermingled, which is why they have the same name.

For example, the placards at the pro York-strike rally read “Canadian Federation of Students,” not “Canadian Federation of Students-Ontario.” The two share staff and resources. The recent University of Ottawa referendum was a referendum on joining both the CFS and the CFS-O — you can’t be a member of the latter without also being part of the former. And so on.

If the CFS does not want people to associate it with the actions of the CFS-O, maybe one of the two organizations should change it’s name. It’s like arguing that different franchises of Tim Hortons are not related to one another or to head office. They have the same brand, serve the same product, share resources, and have the same name.

Another question: why is CFS head office so bothered by its association with the donation to the York strikers? Does the CFS have a different position than the pro-CUPE strike position of the CFS-O?

Classes are still canceled for more than 50,000 students, tensions are rising

It almost felt like a regular academic day at York University, with multiple rallies occurring at suburban Toronto campus. However, instead of the usual Israeli/Palestinian rallies, students were rallying against or for a strike by CUPE 2903, which has kept 50,000 students out of classes for the better part of two weeks.

RELATED VIDEO:

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Video provided by CITY-TV Toronto

In the morning, about 200 York undergraduate students held a rally calling for government-imposed binding arbitration to end the strike and get them back in their classes.

The rally, organized by a student group that calls itself YorkNotHostage.com, was designed to give students the opportunity to make their voices heard.

“We don’t really have a say,” says Catherine Divaris, a fifth-year kinesiology student who helped organize the rally. “We are not at the table.”

Divaris, like many students, is concerned about what the consequences of a long strike may have on her future.

“I’ve applied to law schools already. I’m in my final year. I have to work in the summer to make money to be able to afford my future education,” she says. “It’s not fair for a union of 3,200 members and an administration of 10 or 11 people to decide the fate of 50,000 students.”

Students were encouraged to write their stories on a large banner placed on a wall. Many students expressed apprehension about finding summer jobs if the strike results in classes being pushed back into May.

The students have succeeded in garnering the attention of at least one provincial politician. Peter Shurman, Progressive Conservative MPP for Thornhill who is calling on the provincial Liberal government to pass back-to-work legislation, spoke to the students.

“My office was besieged telephone calls and emails as this strike has unfolded,” said Shurman. “People have very long memories: they remember there was a 11-week strike seven years ago and they don’t want to see a repeat.”