Notice of vote about proposed constitutional amendments

Dear colleagues,

The YUFA Constitution permits amendments to be submitted to the Executive Committee by 50 or more members. In late October 2018, the YUFA Executive received a package of 17 proposed amendments from Prof. Ida Ferrara, signed by 91 members. The proposed amendments would significantly alter the objectives and purpose of YUFA, as well as our operations regarding meetings, voting, collective bargaining with our employer, and other central aspects of the YUFA mandate. This package has been shared with members by email and is available here. Additional materials received from Prof. Ferrara on February 12 are available here.

The YUFA Executive has carefully reviewed these proposals and sought advice from legal counsel, Stewards’ Council, the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations, and the Canadian Association of University Teachers. The YUFA Executive has unanimously passed a motion recommending that members reject all but one of them. The Executive motion recommends that members vote NO to proposals 1-16 and vote YES to proposal 17 (proposal 17 is the last item in the ballot – change to Article 11). Stewards’ Council has unanimously voted to support the recommendations from the Executive Committee. A summary response from the YUFA Executive has been shared with members by email and is available here, along with a detailed, proposal-by-proposal response.

In order to pass, the amendments must be ratified by a two-thirds (⅔) majority of voting members via electronic voting. We invite members to participate in the ratification vote.

Voting will begin on Friday, February 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. and will end on Friday, March 1, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Voting will be by electronic ballot. The results will be announced on YUFA-M shortly after voting ends on March 1.

Eligible voters will receive by email an invitation to vote electronically, when voting begins on February 15 at 10:00 a.m. Voting instructions will be included in the email.

If you do not receive an email invitation to vote by the time voting begins, please email YUFA as soon as possible: [email protected].