Please see below for eight (8) updates, reminders and information items.
- YUFA members drop-in session, October 30
- Next Stewards' Council meeting, November 1
- YUFA Executive Committee endorses YUFA Race Equity Caucus report on Palestine Solidarity at York University
- Teach-In session for former international students facing mass deportation
- Thinking about Retirement? Contact YUFA.
- Multi-Union Health and Safety Re-Orientation
- Vacancy for the Markham precinct on the Joint Health and Safety Committee
- YUFA Fall GMM, November 19
1. The next YUFA Members’ Zoom drop-in session is Wednesday, October 30, from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm. The topic for the session is “Teaching Stream (TS) and Special Renewable Contact (SRC) colleagues’ issues.” Members may remember that four of our SRC colleagues were informed in early August that their contracts would not be renewed. YUFA is grieving this, and campaigning in support of SRC colleagues. Teaching Stream colleagues carry a heavy administrative and teaching load in many units, which we were able to partially address in bargaining this year. All members are invited to attend the drop-in meeting. The zoom link can be found in the YUFA-M message sharing the same subject heading as this news post.
2. The next meeting of the YUFA Stewards’ Council is on Friday, November 1, 2024, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm via Zoom. Stewards’ Council meetings are open to all YUFA members. The Zoom link can be found in the YUFA-M message sharing the same subject line as this news post.
3. The YUFA Executive Committee recently:
i. Endorsed the report prepared by the YUFA Race Equity Caucus titled Surveilled & Silenced: A Report on Palestine Solidarity at York University. YUFA also notes the statement by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner titled Universities must respect peaceful activism and revise repressive policies targeting pro-Palestine solidarity movement.
ii. Approved YUFA developing a public campaign against top-down, administration-imposed restructuring at York, working with Stewards Council, the YUFA Bargaining Support Committee, and Cross-Campus Alliance member organizations.
iii. Passed a motion to begin an audit of YUFA’s investments to ensure that YUFA has no financial ties to institutions and corporations contributing to occupation and war.
iv. Expressed its support for the event “Let Gaza Live - A panel discussion and call to action: Four critical perspective on the crisis in Gaze and its impact on campus activism” to be held on Thursday, October 31 at Toronto Metropolitan University from 12:00 noon to 1:30pm. Please see the poster below.
4. More than 200,000 former international students, including many York University graduates, face mass deportation or loss of status because their work permits are expiring in 2024–25. Please consider joining the Teach-In Session being held on campus to discuss the recent immigration policy changes and the challenges that international student-workers now face. The Teach-In is on Thursday, November 7 from 4:00 to 6:00pm in Room 325 of the First Student Centre. Please see the poster below.
5. YUFA members considering retirement in the foreseeable future are encouraged to contact YUFA, at [email protected], to obtain information and advice on key decisions and how best to proceed.