An arbitrator has agreed with YUFA that the Employer breached the Collective Agreement when it failed to provide a response to a unit that had submitted a workload document to the Dean's Office in the Fall of 2023.
Despite multiple follow ups from the unit and from YUFA in the spring of 2024, the Dean's Office failed to respond or even acknowledge receipt. YUFA filed a grievance in the summer of 2024 which the Employer rejected. The YUFA Executive Committee then referred the matter to arbitration.
As the parties waited for the first arbitration date, the unit still had no word from the Dean's Office, contrary to the Employer's promise. It was only on morning of the hearing that the Dean's Office responded to the unit.
The Dean's response was almost two years after the unit first submitted the workload document and over a year since the Employer stated, in its response to YUFA's grievance, that it would follow up with the unit.
Had the Deans’ Office sent a response sooner, the parties might have been able to achieve a resolution and avoided spending a significant amount of time and money preparing for arbitration and for the arbitrator's fees. The Employer's actions were disrespectful of the colleagues in the unit, and a waste of time and money for both parties.
The arbitrator declared a breach of the Collective Agreement, which states that a Dean's Office will respond within 60 days of receiving a revised workload document as per Article 18.08.1 and to "provide reasons in writing if agreement is not reached with the unit".
The interim award is publicly available on the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CANLII) website at: https://canlii.ca/t/kfcqx
This is an important victory for YUFA since it underscores that units should expect, when they submit their workload documents, they will hear from the Dean's Office within the required 60 days.
Colleagues in units that submit workload documents to their Dean/Principal and do not receive a response within the 60-day period, should report this information to YUFA at yufa@yorku.ca.