YUFA President Richard Wellen delivered the following remarks to the Board of Governors meeting that took place by teleconference on Tuesday, May 1, 2018:

"As you know, this is a crucial time for our University. The protracted CUPE 3903 strike has led to feelings of hopelessness and anxiety for many of our students and faculty members, and the depth of these feelings may be greater than those in any previous strike at York. Many of the courses in the Fall/Winter and Winter terms are threatened, and there is now some likelihood that there will be a diminution or full cancellation of the Summer term for the first time at our University. Faculty members and others have told YUFA that they are demoralized by the administration’s apparent refusal to resume negotiations. Many faculty members have told YUFA that they are concerned about losing their summer courses and are uncertain about increased teaching responsibilities added to their next academic term, which will negatively impact their research.

"The YUFA Executive Committee would like to urge the Board to separate the myth of CUPE 3903 radicalism from the reality of CUPE 3903 members' bargaining concerns. In particular, we think it is important to put aside the myth that CUPE 3903 is too radical to bargain with, and instead make sure we recognize that the vast majority of CUPE 3903 members are feeling vulnerable and under-valued, and that this reflects real needs that the Board--and the entire York community--needs to grapple with. CUPE 3903 members are not deluded; rather, they support their union’s bargaining position for good reason. We think it is important that the Board give strong consideration as to how it can provide a new reasonable and fair compromise offer that would be meaningful enough to bring the members of CUPE 3903 to vote for a settlement.

"The refusal to make a new offer to CUPE 3903, along with concerns about university governance during the strike, have led to an unprecedented series of official non-confidence motions in the administration and the Board adopted by academic bodies, departments, and Faculties across our University. I have attached a summary of these motions that has been made available to YUFA. Whatever one thinks of these non-confidence motions, they surely reflect a growing sense of mainstream frustration with the approach to this labour dispute that has been taken so far. I have also attached a letter from the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), summarizing motions that were unanimously passed at the CAUT national council meeting in Ottawa this past week. It is important to note that these received the assent of the representatives of nearly all faculty associations in Canada.

"This is a time that calls for constructive compromise. Many of the demands of CUPE 3903 reflect key current issues that are common to academic institutions across North America. In the current strike, these especially involve funding and the lack of secure academic employment that threatens the academic and scholarly mission of our University. The so-called 'conversion' program, which provides tenure-stream job opportunities to a limited number of contract faculty members, is one of the key issues in the dispute. This program has existed for more than 30 years and was initiated at a time when the administration, YUFA, and CUPE 3903 sat down together to imagine creative solutions to the University’s heavy reliance on contract faculty and how the legitimate career aspirations of those members of our academic community could be recognized. There was no strike or strike vote taken in the year this program was negotiated. Without getting into the question of how many conversion appointments should be made each year, it is important to understand that programs like this are becoming even more important as increased numbers of talented academics face conditions of insecure employment. For this reason, we see calls for programs like this increasing in the post-secondary sector. Arguably the  provision of a reasonable number of such appointments is actually an enhancement, and not a detriment, to our institution.

"This is not the place to debate all of the issues in play in the current labour dispute. Rather, I would like to emphasize the need to explore every path possible to achieve a constructive turn in labour relations and, especially, to emphasize the Board’s role in achieving this. We think it is not too late to make this happen, and I remain available if you wish to follow up on this brief report."

Dear members,

YUFA was first alerted, in January 2012, to extensive, long-standing problems in the administration of the York Pension Plan. These problems involve the use by Pension & Benefits of procedures explicitly violating the terms of the York Pension Plan document (YPPD) and led to improper reductions in the pension account balances of affected active members and the pensions paid to affected retirees. The University's lawyers confirmed the YPPD-violating nature of the procedures in question in February 2012. Since that time, YUFA has been attempting to get the Employer to act to correct past pension account and pension errors, and stop the continued use of these YPPD-violating procedures.

Owing to a lack of any substantive progress, YUFA has been forced to file a policy grievance over these matters.

This communication is a follow-up to an earlier announcement about these same issues. Its goal is to alert members who may have missed the first announcement about the existence of these problems. Links are also provided to online resources aimed at helping members understand whether their pension accounts or pensions are likely to be among those affected. Notifying YUFA if it appears you have been affected will help YUFA to push the policy grievance forward, and (eventually) to get past errors corrected.

The errors in question result from the use of YPPD-violating procedures for determining pensionable income (relevant to determining minimum guaranteed pension entitlements) and employee and/or employer contributions to the pension accounts of members in specific sabbatical or irrevocable reduced load (IRL) situations.

"One member who retired in 2009 is currently receiving a pension $842 per year lower than it should be and is owed more than $6,100 in back pension."

The impact of these errors can be quite large. One member who retired in 2009, for example, is currently receiving a pension $842 per year lower than it should be and is owed more than $6,100 in back pension. A number of other examples are already known of current retirees owed more than $1,000 in back pension. The impact can also be smaller, and not all members are affected. It is, however, likely that well in excess of 500 members will have had their accounts and/or pensions negatively affected (see below for more on this point).

A brief outline of all problems we are currently aware of follows. Links providing access to form-fillable PDF worksheets designed to help you determine which (if any) of these errors is likely to have affected your pension account may be found below.

The problems go back to at least 2000 and affect the pension accounts of members who received retroactive payments and/or merit award payments in certain irrevocable reduced load (IRL) or reduced-pay, "topped-up sabbatical" situations. (A "topped-up sabbatical" is one during which the member opted to top up employee and employer pension contributions to 100%.) Your pension account balance will definitely be lower than it should be, and your minimum guaranteed pension entitlement may also be lower than it should be, if any of the following applies to you:

• (a) you received a merit award payment while on any reduced-pay, topped-up sabbatical (this problem ended with the termination of the merit award program, with the last of these errors thus occurring in December 2012);
• (b) you received a retroactive payment of any kind (due to an anomaly adjustment, a marketability adjustment, or the late signing of a new collective agreement) while on any reduced-pay, topped-up sabbatical, through to at least the end of 2015;
• (c) you received a retroactive payment of any kind in the year immediately following any reduced-pay, topped-up sabbatical (this problem continued through at least 2016);
• (d) you received a retroactive payment of any kind while on IRL through at least the end of 2015 (this error also occurred in all of the relatively small number of 2016 and 2017 examples of this type we are aware of, and thus is likely still ongoing).

Further details, including some historical information, and additional numerical examples of how large the impact on members' pensions can be, can be found at this link.

To find out if your pension has been negatively affected by these errors, please visit this webpage. It contains links to worksheets covering all of the situations noted above. Simply provide the required information in the worksheets.

No calculations are required to fill out these worksheets -- the information you provide will be enough for us to determine whether or not your account was among those affected. If it was, filling out and returning the appropriate worksheets will help us ensure that past errors in your pension account and/or current pension will be properly identified and (eventually) corrected.

It is worth bearing in mind, in this regard, that, from the cases of a number of recent retirees who responded to the first version of this mailing, we know that, as recently as July 2017, members were still entering retirement on pensions improperly reduced as a result of uncorrected versions of these past errors.

"It is likely that well in excess of 500 YUFA members will have had their accounts and/or pensions negatively affected by these unreported errors."

It is also worth emphasizing the scale of the problem. From a list of members on reduced-pay, topped-up sabbaticals in the period 2000-2007, for example, we have been able to identify 325 members whose accounts were, with certainty, in this period, negatively impacted by errors of type (a), (b) and/or (c) above. Based on the numbers of members known to have been on reduced-pay, topped-up sabbaticals in each of the years in the period 2008-2015, we also know that an additional 301 errors of type (b) and/or (c) will have been made in this later period, and, based on the number of merit award recipients affected each year in the period 2000-2007, we expect a further roughly 60 errors of type (a) to have been made in the period 2008-2012. Finally, a further roughly 130 unusually large errors of type (b) are expected to have affected those on reduced-pay, topped-up sabbaticals in 1998-1999 or 1999-2000 (these errors result from the improper treatment of the often very large salary adjustment fund retroactive payments and late 1999-2001 Collective Agreement retroactive payments received by members in 1999 and/or early 2000).

Please forward this email to any currently retired former colleagues who may not otherwise have access to it.

For more information, please email [email protected] (subject line: pension errors).

Dear members,

In response to a number of requests from members, the YUFA Executive Committee has agreed to postpone the Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM) on governance, originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 2. Members have indicated that the date and time of the SGMM conflict with other previously scheduled meetings this week. There is also a concern that the ongoing CUPE 3903 strike and the meeting's off-campus location could minimize participation.

The Executive Committee is committed to making the SGMM as accessible as possible, in order to maximize member participation in this important discussion. To that end, we have decided to postpone the SGMM this week and reschedule it at a time that increases the likelihood of greater participation.

We will issue an announcement soon, once the details of the rescheduled SGMM have been confirmed. Thank you for your patience.

Sincerely,
Executive Committee

The following motion has been submitted by York University Senators Richard Welland, Ricardo Grinspun, and Mina Rajabi Paak to the Senate Executive Committee in advance of the next meeting of the Senate, scheduled for Thursday, April 26 (see here for agenda).

MOTION

(submitted by Richard Wellen, Ricardo Grinspun, and Mina Rajabi Paak)

Senate instructs Senate Executive that any actions or decisions attempting to clarify the authority and role of Senate, including the formation of any committees, working groups or investigation bodies, will be acted with, and only with, the formal approval of Senate.

RATIONALE

In his April 2 letter, the Chair of the Board of Governors calls for the formation of a joint committee appointed by and composed of the Executive of the Board and of the Senate to clarify "the respective roles of the Board and Senate." Anticipating that Senate Executive may develop a process to clarify some of these matters, it is important to assert the need to bring any such plans and decisions as a recommendation for formal approval of Senate.

Senate Rules and Procedures stipulate (Section D, page 33) that:

The Executive Committee shall be responsible for monitoring and making recommendations to Senate on all matters pertaining to: the organization of Senate and its committees, the organization and function of academic governance in the University Senate's relation both with other bodies in the University and with bodies external to it. The Executive Committee may make recommendations on behalf of Senate, and subject to Senate approval, to the Administration and the Board on matters related to the organization and structure of the University.

Although this is a broad mandate, it is circumscribed to "monitoring and making recommendations to Senate". Senate Executive does not have independent decision-making on matters of "the organization and function of academic governance in the University, Senate's relation both with other bodies in the University and with bodies external to it"; rather, it "may make recommendations on behalf of Senate, and subject to Senate approval" on the matters at hand.

The intent of the motion, therefore, is to instruct Senate Executive that, in regards to establishing a process for reviewing these governance matters, forming a body to conduct such a review, as well as deriving conclusions and decisions, Senate Executive, shall, as per Senate procedures, bring any recommendations to Senate for approval.

A photo of the Accolade West Building, in summer, with trees in the foreground

YUFA is encouraging members and the wider York community to attend today’s Senate meeting, which will include discussion of governance issues at the University and updates about proposed remediation policies.

The meeting takes place today (Thursday, April 26) from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. in 206 Accolade West Building. While the meeting is open to the entire York community, only Senators have voice and may move and vote on motions. With permission from Senators, guests may speak to the meeting.

The meeting agenda is available here.

The following motion, submitted by York University Senators Richard Wellen, Ricardo Grinspun, and Mina Rajabi Paak, will be discussed at the meeting.

The YUFA General Membership Meeting on April 17, 2018 passed a motion to hold a Special General Membership Meeting (SGMM) on governance. The SGMM will take place as follows:

SGMM on governance
Wednesday, May 2 - POSTPONED
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Location TBA

DRAFT agenda:

1. Welcome and Land Acknowledgement (5 min.)
2. Approval of agenda (5 min.)
3. Board of Governors (BoG) and Senate (40 min.)
4. Governance and YUFA bargaining (40 min.)
5. Other responses and mobilization (30 min.)
6. Adjournment

A more detailed agenda, along with notice of the meeting location, will be circulated on YUFA-M in the coming days.

Accommodation: Members who require accommodation should contact YUFA as soon as possible: email [email protected] (please use subject line: Accommodations).

Dear President Lenton,

In your recent message to the York community ("Two days of mediation produce no settlement"), you claim that the CUPE conversion program remains a "fundamental issue" in the current labour dispute. You state that the University's proposal of two conversion appointments (which falls below CUPE's previous contract and the historical average) enjoys the "public support of many full-time faculty in the York University Faculty Association." You add that "Academics support University's position on conversions."

It is incumbent upon your office to provide evidence for such statements about the opinions of our members. This letter did not disclose that your claim of "public support" refers to a petition you received from 152 members of YUFA who have organized a special group to discuss issues such as conversion appointments and the CUPE strike. Everyone is aware, including yourself, that among the more than 1,500 members of YUFA there are diverse views on the conversion program. The program has nonetheless been approved in every YUFA collective agreement voted upon by our members in the last thirty years.

It is disingenuous in this context that you failed to consult with YUFA before claiming that academics support the bargaining position of the York administration in this strike. By misrepresenting the views of YUFA members, your statement appears calculated to drive a wedge between YUFA members and our colleagues in CUPE 3903 upon their return to work. We ask therefore that you issue a correction, making it clear that you are in receipt of the signed petition of approximately 10% of our membership, but that you are not able to make a reliable claim about the opinion of YUFA members on the issue of the conversion program in the current negotiations.

Sincerely,
Executive Committee
York University Faculty Association

Dear colleagues,

YUFA held its Annual General Meeting(AGM) on April 17, 2018. At the meeting, a budget for fiscal year 2018-19 was proposed; it will be sent for members' approval via electronic vote in the coming days. The Treasurer reported long-awaited progress in replenishing YUFA's reserves. Additional financial support for et al.(the Faculty/Grad Student Café & Pub) was also approved to help with financial challenges arising from the delayed opening and revenue shortfalls during the strike.

In addition, members reviewed the YUFA bargaining agenda which includes important items related to Equity, Compensation, Faculty Complement, Pensions and Retirement, Governance and Collegiality, and Teaching Load. Members were reminded that collective bargaining will commence in the near future, despite the ongoing strike by CUPE 3903 and despite the administration's attempt to delay bargaining.

Finally, members engaged in a lively discussion of what many saw as a governance crisis at the University that is playing out in the context of the CUPE 3903 strike. Reports were heard about attempts by the senior administration and the Board of Governors to undermine the jurisdiction of Senate over academic decisions during a labour disruption. Many members saw this as part of a larger effort by the Board and the President to weaken collegial governance across many dimensions of our academic lives.

In light of the discussion on these items, the following two motions were put forward and passed:

First motion: 
YUFA expresses deep concern regarding the approach of the senior administration and the Board of Governors to University governance matters in the context of the current labour dispute. (passed)

Second motion: 
The YUFA membership instructs the YUFA Executive to organize a special membership meeting on governance. (passed unanimously)

It is anticipated that the YUFA Executive will announce the Special Membership Meeting on Governance by early next week.

The current CUPE 3903 strike has reached the end of its seventh week and there is no end in sight. Although the degree and type of disruption varies across the University, many YUFA members are feeling very uncertain about the prospects of salvaging their courses or helping extremely vulnerable students who have borne the brunt of the impact. The prospect of losing all or part of the summer schedule is compounding our challenges.

As you know, the Senate Executive has issued a series of announcements outlining the guidelines and rules for course completion and assigning final grades in the context of the CUPE 3903 strike. The thrust of the current Senate remediation document is to lay out options based on (1) the proportion of the course work that has been finalized and (2) whether one’s course has been suspended or has continued. Even where a course has continued, there may be students who have chosen to exercise their right not to participate during the strike. In such cases, the completion of one’s course or the finalization of grades may be especially complex.

YUFA advises all members to read the updated information in the latest Senate Executive document issued on April 12 and consult your Chair or Dean’s/Principal's office as appropriate.

In response to concerns raised by members, YUFA also would like to alert our colleagues to four key areas where faculty members may need to know about their options and rights in the context of the challenge of remediation during a lengthy and disruptive strike:

1. Faculty member’s professional responsibility: Beyond the requirements of the remediation policy, your Dean/Principal cannot expect you to relinquish your own responsibility to exercise your own judgement of how to preserve the academic integrity of your course. Both the Senate policy and our own concern for our students will no doubt lead us to find flexible solutions. Nevertheless, it should also be remembered that, unless the Senate policy explicitly requires you to provide an assessed grade option in a particular circumstance (for example, when 70% of the work has been completed), you have a right and professional responsibility to make your own judgement about the completion of your course and how to preserve its academic integrity while being flexible and fair to students.
2. Exceptional circumstances: After laying out the standard options for providing “assessed grades,” the Senate guidelines include the following statement:

"Students in exceptional circumstances may request assessed grades on the basis of work that falls below the 70 per cent threshold. Such requests are dealt with on a case-by-case basis by individual faculty members in the first instance."

This policy leaves the judgement about whether to provide an assessed grade to the individual faculty member, even in an exceptional circumstance. The policy says that students have a right to request flexibility beyond the standard assessed grade options when there is an exceptional circumstance (family commitment, etc.), but whether such flexibility should be granted and how it should be balanced against considerations about the academic integrity of your course is, according to YUFA's understanding, subject to the professional judgement of the faculty member.

3. Can I be asked to do the work of striking workers? Members of YUFA cannot be expected to do the work of members of CUPE 3903 who are on strike. That would be asking you to take on an extra teaching assignment and extra work beyond your normal teaching load, which would be a violation of your rights under your collective agreement. It would also amount to an inappropriate request that our members interfere in the labour dispute between the York administration and CUPE 3903.
4. Remuneration for additional teaching associated with remediation: In order to follow Senate policy, and in order to protect the standards of fairness to students and academic integrity, it is possible that some of our members may need to perform extra hours of work in their own courses to achieve the goals of remediation. For example, developing multiple pathways in the same course to allow students to complete their assignments and access to course materials may require extra work of this type.

YUFA and the Employer are in agreement that the process carried out during the 2015 strike, wherein faculty members were required to submit a statement of extra hours worked that qualify for remuneration, would be followed again in 2018. This remuneration would be made at the hourly rate stipulated in Article 25.09 ($36.12) of the Collective Agreement. The Employer has not yet responded to our request for full practical details of how the process would work. In the meantime, YUFA advises all members to keep a log of all extra hours worked.

A photo of raised hands

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place as follows:

Annual General Meeting
Tuesday, April 17
10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
UNIFOR Local 112 Hall *
30 Tangiers Road

Map

* The UNIFOR Hall is an accessible venue. A catered lunch will be provided by et al., the Faculty/Grad Student Café & Pub.

The AGM is open to all YUFA members and is governed by the YUFA Constitution. A meeting package, including the agenda, is available here. Please download and print your own copy of the package, as only a limited number of hard copies will be distributed at the meeting.

Accommodation: Members who require accommodation should contact YUFA as soon as possible: email [email protected] (please use subject line: Accommodations). While YUFA will make every effort to meet all requests, it may not be possible to implement certain types of requests received after Tuesday, April 10 at 12:00 p.m.