The YUFA Bargaining Team continues to meet with the employer’s bargaining team. At the October 19th bargaining session, YUFA opened with a teaching from an Indigenous elder, which was followed by Bargaining Team member, Angele Alook, presenting key equity proposals related to Indigenous faculty. YUFA has advanced effective, member-initiated proposals to better support our equity-seeking members. The better we support colleagues, the better we can serve our diverse student body, which have increased significantly during the ongoing pandemic.

While disproportionately affecting YUFA members from equity-seeking groups, increased workloads and unsafe working conditions are a major concern for us all. As many colleagues are aware, YUFA recently filed four COVID-19 related policy grievances and is now engaged in a process of mediation with the employer on these matters. As these grievances progress, our Bargaining Team continues to bargain for a fair and equitable contract, with proposals that promote health and safety and address workload and working conditions—issues you’ve told us are important.

Over the past while, colleagues have brought to YUFA more examples of the erosion of collegial governance and its impacts on everything from hiring processes to pedagogical decisions. The Bargaining Team has presented proposals that build on best practices to ensure fair, transparent, and accountable decision-making, protecting the academic rights of units and contributing to a better York for all.

YUFA has recently circulated an important update on retirement security and will continue to update members as bargaining continues.

With regards to salary and benefits, the Ford government’s wage restraint legislation, better known as Bill 124, limiting public sector compensation and benefits increases to 1% per year significantly constrains free and fair collective bargaining during this round. The employer initially suggested that it regards these limits as applying to all cost items in the collective agreement, not just to salary and benefits. The YUFA bargaining team responded by reminding the employer that items such a course release, professional expense reimbursement, and other expenses unrelated to compensation and benefits are outside the scope of Bill 124.

The YUFA Bargaining Team is poised to complete our detailed proposal presentation and looks forward to meaningful engagement and responses from York University’s negotiating team at the next bargaining session on Friday, October 29th.

All faculty should be treated fairly and equitably. In the context of the ongoing pandemic, this round of bargaining must address the key issues of workload, shared governance, and equity, particularly as the necessity to challenge anti-Black racism and support the work of Indigenous reconciliation is at the forefront of social justice matters. YUFA has put forward proposals that would make meaningful progress on these issues and hopes that the York University administration recognizes their importance.

YUFA is committed to bringing your voices to the table, sharing our members’ challenges, experiences and ideas to promote a better understanding of our proposals and a better way forward for York.

Members can show support for the bargaining team by:

Attending the next Stewards' Council Meeting on November 5th at 10:30am (details to follow)

Applying a YUFA Zoom background by clicking the links below, downloading the images to your device and following the Zoom instructions on uploading backgrounds.

"YUFA Logo"
"Bringing Your Voice to the Table"

Sharing your stories on how you have been personally affected by the University's directives with respect to in-person course delivery this academic session

Members who would like to share their stories are invited to email our YUFA Stewards' Council Representatives Susan Ingram and Nancy Sangiuliano.

Feel free to contact the bargaining team directly at [email protected].