Bargaining Update: Negotiations continue while the Employer has terminated some Special Renewable Contracts  (August 1, 2024)

Bargaining continued on Wednesday, July 31 as the parties exchanged proposals that included some incremental changes. The YUFA Bargaining Team narrowed its proposal package to focus on the most important items. The Employer continued to propose a salary freeze in the first year of the collective agreement, which the bargaining team sees as an effort to claw back part of the recent Bill 124 retroactive payment members received in July. The Employer did increase its total salary offer to an average of 2.33% per year over the life of the collective agreement. This remains well below recent settlements at other universities and at York. In addition, the employer is insisting on freezing annual progress-through-the ranks increments.

Unfortunately the Employer has not withdrawn any of its concessionary proposals on benefits, workload or governance. For example, they are maintaining their recent proposal to significantly cut benefits coverage by imposing "reasonable and customary" limits and by imposing a low cap on physiotherapy benefits that will harm injured and disabled members They continue to propose language that would narrow the definition of "restructuring" so that administrative cuts and challenges to programs would no longer be subject to consultation. They also are proposing that Deans would no longer need the agreement of JCOAA to alter workload norms for academic units.

YUFA is hopeful that bargaining sessions scheduled for today, and potentially throughout August if necessary, will move the sides closer together.