Please see the following eight (8) reminders and updates, covering:
- YUFA's fight to protect Special Renewable Contracts (SRCs)
- YUFA drop-in session: Tenure and Promotion - Part 1 - November 6
- Teach-In session for former international students facing mass deportation
- Workshop: "Supporting Scholars: Preventing, Mitigating & Responding to Scholarship-Based Harassment" - November 12
- Upcoming Talk: "Confronting Scholasticide" - November 13
- Upcoming YUFA General Membership Meeting - November 19
- Flu and COVID-19 vaccines
- Reminder re: commonly observed dates of religious significance
1. YUFA is fighting to protect the jobs of the 18 YUFA members who hold a Special Renewable Contract (SRC). All these members were appointed in 2019 and 2020 following a rigorous application process of CUPE 3903 Unit 2 members in the Affirmative Action pool who have taught at York for a minimum of 15 years, with a teaching intensity of at least 2.5 FTEs a year in the 5 years before the SRC appointment.
The purpose of these appointments is two-fold:
- To create improved job security/stability and a stable path to retirement for long term members in Unit 2
- To recognize the continued contributions of long-term members of Unit 2 in meeting the teaching needs and priorities of the units in which SRCs were appointed.
In July 2024, the Employer denied the contract renewal requests of four YUFA SRC members for another five-year term. The YUFA Collective Agreement states that such unit and member renewal requests "shall not be unreasonably withheld." As stated by the employer’s own representatives in a 2002 arbitration regarding SRCs, the renewal of YUFA members with Special Renewable Contracts has been historically considered pro forma and perfunctory.
The remaining 10 other SRC members will submit renewal requests between now and December 15, 2024. Decisions by the Employer on these 10 members are to be made by February 1, 2025.
In response to the Employer's denial of four SRC renewal requests, YUFA has filed individual grievances, two policy grievances and an Unfair Labour Practice complaint. Given that this is a termination of employment case, YUFA pushed the employer to agree to a mediator/arbitrator with arbitration dates available this fall and early next year for the case to be heard as quickly as possible.
The Association’s position is that unit and member requests for contract renewals of YUFA members with SRC contracts should be approved in the normal course as has been the case since the inception of the SRC program 25 years ago. All the units with SRC members who have requested renewals have identified that these members fulfill valuable teaching needs and help in meeting teaching priorities identified by their respective units.
Collectively, all 18 SRC members have provided decades (verging on 30 years, in some cases) of dedicated teaching, service, and research work to the university and these services continue to be needed.
The YUFA Executive Committee and Stewards Council have been developing various campaigns in support of YUFA member colleagues with SRCs. More information will be forthcoming from unit stewards. General members are always welcome at the YUFA Stewards Council meeting scheduled for the first Friday of every month.
2. The next YUFA Members’ Zoom drop-in session is Wednesday, November 6, from 12:00 noon to 1:00pm. The topic for the session is “Tenure & Promotion - Part 1”. All members are invited to attend, though the workshop is specifically aimed at those who have yet to go go through the process The Zoom link can be found in the YUFA-M message with the same subject heading as this news post.
The schedule for future sessions is:
Nov 20: Tenure & Promotion - Part 2
Dec 4: Pay Equity, Salary Anomalies, and YUFA
3. 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.

4. Members are invited to a workshop titled “Supporting Scholars: Preventing, Mitigating & Responding to Scholarship-Based Harassment” on Tuesday, November 12, 9:00 to 10:30am. This is an in-person event on the Keele Campus. More information and registration can be found here.
5. Members are invited to a talk titled "Confronting Scholasticide" featuring Ahmed Abu Shaban, Dean of Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at Al Azhar University Gaza, on Wednesday, November 13th, 2024, from 12:30pm to 2:30pm in HNE 140. Dr. Abu Shaban will discuss the systematic destruction of Palestinian education by the Israeli state as well as lived experiences of the impact of genocide and scholasticide on Gazan students, faculty, administration and institutions of higher learning. There will be discussion of ways for academics and academic institutions to engage in meaningful resistance to scholasticide and support Palestinian institutions of higher education.
The talk is moderated by Professor Anna Zalik, with Professor Stefan Kipfer, Professor Pablo Idahosa, and Professor Ratiba Hadj-Moussa as discussants.
6. The next YUFA General Members Meeting is on Tuesday, November 19 from 10:00am to 12:00 noon. The meeting will be held over Zoom. The Zoom link, agenda and materials will be distributed before the meeting.
7. Members are reminded that free flu and COVID-19 vaccines are available to all residents of Ontario and that these can be obtained in many locations in the community including pharmacies. An Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card is not required. Please see here for more information on the flu and COVID vaccines.
At the Keele campus, the vaccines are available at the Shoppers Drug Mart at York Lanes. This location is open every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. (closed on holidays), with both walk-ins and scheduled appointments available. To book an appointment, visit the Shoppers Drug Mart website.
8. YUFA members are reminded – as a matter of equity – to avoid scheduling tests, field trips, presentations or important meetings on commonly observed dates of religious significance. The dates may be viewed here.