Important update on Equal Pay Exercise

YUFA is pleased to inform members that we have finally been successful in concluding one element of the Equal Pay Exercise that was negotiated by YUFA in the last round of bargaining. As members may recall, YUFA won collective agreement language in the 2018 round of negotiations that required the Employer to work with YUFA to engage in an analysis to determine pay gaps that exist among faculty and librarians/archivists who self-identify as women, as racialized members, or as Aboriginal (Indigenous).

Unlike many other Equal Pay exercises advanced by unions in the past, the Exercise that YUFA successfully negotiated not only contemplated gender discrimination, but also advanced an analysis of how discrimination based on racialization and Indigeneity impacts base salary.

The extensive analysis resulted in a finding that there were statistically significant gaps for the group of faculty members who self-identified as both women, trans, or gender non-conforming, and racialized or Indigenous. Of this group, 33 faculty members had base salaries that were more than 0.5 standard deviation below the reference group. These individuals will receive increases to their base salary ranging from 2% to 16%.

After much delay from the Employer and a lengthy process of negotiation, the University has finally agreed to make these equal pay adjustments for 33 faculty members for their September 2020 pay, which are retroactive to January 2020. The affected members should be receiving a communication from the Employer explaining the Equal Pay Exercise and the extent to which their salaries will be adjusted.

YUFA continues to push the Employer to conduct an equal pay analysis of librarians and archivists that accounts for the variable of "experience" consistent with the definition outlined in the YUFA Collective Agreement. We are also in continued discussions with the Employer about other matters to resolve an outstanding union grievance. As YUFA quickly approaches the end of our current collective agreement, it is disappointing that such matters remain unresolved from our last round of bargaining despite YUFA's efforts to engage with the Employer on these issues.

Nevertheless, we are very pleased to have negotiated meaningful increases in pay as one step towards addressing discrimination in pay for faculty members more broadly.

Arthur Hilliker
President, YUFA

Sheila Embleton
Chief Steward, YUFA

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