Letter of Solidarity Regarding the 2024-2025 Winter Holiday

Unions at York University have collaborated on a joint letter regarding this holiday’s winter schedule:

Rhonda Lenton
President and Vice-Chancellor
York University

Dear Rhonda,

We the undersigned student, academic, and non-academic employee representatives of the university write to call for a revised 2024 winter holiday schedule. Comparator universities in our city, Toronto Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto, are offering their staff a significantly longer paid break than is being offered by York.

In the case of TMU, staff are being given two full weeks for the winter holidays (for a total of sixteen consecutive days without work). The University of Toronto is offering one day less than TMU. In contrast, York University is offering staff a winter holiday of only nine consecutive days.

The university’s suggestion that staff deplete their banked vacation in order to obtain the same amount of time off as our colleagues at other universities is indicative of York University’s insufficient respect for the workers who make the university function. It also suggests an unfortunate miserliness not in keeping with the spirit of the holiday season. Practically, the suggestion that staff deplete their holidays is not in fact an option given that many are restricted from taking vacation at the beginning of the semester as a condition of their employment.

This year, many among York University staff face unprecedented stressors, due to workload issues arising in part from a prolonged period of reduced hiring and unfilled vacancies, the anticipated effects of short staffing due to the Voluntary Exit Program, and various restructuring initiatives that deepen insecurity about potential future cuts. More than ever, staff need a respite over the winter break to spend time with their families, to rest, recuperate, and recharge so they can begin the winter semester afresh and contribute to making the best campus possible for our students and community members.

We call upon you to reconsider this decision and, as you have done in the past, we urge you to align York’s winter break schedule with that of the other Toronto universities.

Aïssata Hann – President, York Federation of Students
Ellie Perkins – President, York University Faculty Association
Angus Van Harten – Executive Member, Osgoode Hall Faculty Association
Zoë Newman – Chairperson, CUPE 3903
Frank D’Agostino – President, CUPE 1356
Sonny Day – President, York University Staff Association

Reclaiming York for Students and Workers rally!

Join us on Wednesday, September 25th for a rally as we march to Kaneff Tower to show York administration we are united as a community! We will be joined by OHFA, CUPE 3903, YUFA, and YUSA in a show of strength and union solidarity.

We will be meeting outside William Small Centre at 11:45am and will be marching to Kaneff Tower where there will be speeches, solidarity, and a show of worker and student power!

CUPE 1356 Statement on violence in Israel and Palestine

CUPE 1356 grieves the loss of life brought by the violence in Israel and Palestine.  We are horrified by the Hamas attack on Israel and the retribution by the State of Israel on the people of Palestine and condemn all acts of violence against innocent civilians.

Therefore, CUPE 1356 calls for:

  • An immediate implementation of a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and demand the Canadian government impose an arms embargo on Israel as a response to the calls of action from Palestinian trade unions;
  • An immediate end to the illegal blockade in Gaza, for the restoration of humanitarian aid, and for the allowance of access to basic necessities of life;
  • The safe and immediate return of all hostages and civilians being held in detention without charge;
  • York University administration to stop its censorship of critical scholarship on Israel-Palestine that undermines the anti-racist and decolonization efforts they claim to support.

Because:

  • The ongoing military assault on Gaza has resulted in a massive loss of civilian life, displacement of over 80% of the Palestinian populations in Gaza, and destruction or damage to over 70% of the infrastructure;
  • The toll of civilian deaths and injuries in Gaza, comprising two-thirds women and children, are unprecedented in both speed and impact within modern history;
  • The United Nations reports that Gaza is teetering on the brink of famine as a result of the Israeli government’s blockade, which has prevented the entry of essential supplies to support life, including food, water, and electricity;
  • The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest international legal court, has ruled the military operation in Gaza qualifies as a plausible case of genocide;
  • Both CUPE National and CUPE Ontario have called for a ceasefire because it is imperative that our union upholds the principles of solidarity, human rights, justice, and the protection of civilians in conflict zones.

CUPE has long recognized the need for the Israeli government to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and abide by UN resolutions and international law. The full siege that has now been declared on Gaza by Israel will worsen conditions for residents who are already struggling and deny the population of food, water, electricity, and other necessities for life. It will not hasten a peaceful resolve.

CUPE stands in solidarity with all who struggle for genuine peace and justice in the region, and we call on the Canadian government to do the same.

CAUT urges York U to negotiate fair deal with academic staff association

(Ottawa – August 8, 2024) The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is calling on the York University administration to negotiate in good faith with the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) to avoid a strike or lock-out.

YUFA says the York administration has been impeding talks by misrepresenting the union’s proposals.

CAUT urges its members to sign and circulate the YUFA petition calling for the university administration to stop its aggressive moves and bargain in good faith with the union.

Sticking points in the negotiations include respect for freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and collegial governance.

The administration has been in a position to lock out YUFA members since August 2. The two sides are now in mediation.

YUFA represents approximately 1,650 faculty, librarians, archivists and post-doctoral researchers at York University

York University professors defend the quality of education at Canada’s third largest university in press release

Toronto, ON AUGUST 8, 2024 – The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) is in a lockout/strike position due to the York University administration’s aggressive labour tactics towards its professors,  librarians, and archivists.

Top-down restructuring at the university’s Glendon and Keele campuses is increasing some class sizes ten-fold and reducing direct contact between students and professors, a process the administration is attempting to accelerate. YUFA is pushing back against these changes:  Professors’ and librarians’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.

The York administration claims that it lacks funds, even as senior management salaries have ballooned. The administration-created labour crisis draws attention away from poor financial planning for the new Markham campus and a new School of Medicine.

In its December, 2023, response to the Ontario Auditor General’s value-for-money report on York University, the senior administration boasted of its solid financial position including a positive net asset balance of $1.9 billion at the end of the 2022-23 fiscal year. “The University agrees with the auditor general’s overall conclusion that York is financially sustainable” (YFile, Dec. 6, 2023)

The University’s most recent audited financial statements also indicate a strong financial position. Indeed, the University’s operating cash and cash equivalents increased by $11 million from 2023 to 2024, to a total of more than $90 million (p. 132).

YUFA President Professor Ellie Perkins states: “The administration is spending millions on labour-related legal bills, consultants and high-paid managers. These resources should be directed towards lowering class sizes and responding to students’ needs. Instead, the senior administration is reducing the number of teaching and front line staff who work directly with students.”

YUFA members remain committed to achieving a renewed collective agreement without a lockout or strike. York professors insist that students and parents should not pay the price for the senior administration’s irresponsible management decisions. YUFA is determined to continue bargaining for faculty participation in academic decisions, and a safe working and learning environment at York University.

The York University Faculty Association / Association des professeur.e.s de l’Université York is the professional association and certified bargaining agent for approximately 1,700 faculty, librarians and archivists, and post-doctoral visitors at York University.

CONTACT:  For more information contact YUFA President, Professor Ellie Perkins at pesperk@gmail.com

Campus Unions Call On York To Negotiate with YUFA

CUPE 3903, YUSA, CUPE 1356, and Osgoode Hall Faculty Association are united in supporting the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) and its effort to negotiate a fair deal with York University.

On July 12, York University requested a “no board” report, which triggers a legal countdown to a possible lockout or strike. Despite claiming in their recent communications to have increased financial difficulties due to the CUPE 3903 strike, the university administration has not hesitated in veering toward yet another possible campus shutdown. These continual threats of labour disruptions also damage the student experience at York.

York claims that student enrollments are too weak to justify increases to faculty salaries that YUFA has requested to match the rate of inflation. Yet York does not have those same worries when it comes to the salaries of senior administration, which have increased by an alarming 47% since 2018 despite university revenue only increasing by 3% over the same period.

In its recent mass email, York blames its inability to support faculty members at the bargaining table on the “slower than expected recovery” since the pandemic began. Concerns about the impact of the pandemic did not prevent them from spending $260.5 million on building the Markham Campus over the same period.

York claims it wants to “reach consensus toward a common goal of a stable and thriving university”. Yet, continuing with its record violating collegial governance, York is proposing to eliminate the joint committees with YUFA that would ensure consultation with faculty members about how reducing the number of courses and introducing much larger ones might impact teaching and learning.

Far from fostering a thriving university, York’s proposals to YUFA appear aimed at circumventing overwork protection, making increases to class size part of the normal routine, and freeing the senior administration of their obligation to consult faculty members and adequately research the potential impact of these changes. York must bargain in good faith with YUFA if it is truly committed to student success and what it acknowledges are the “absolutely essential” contributions of YUFA to this university.

CUPE 3903, YUSA, CUPE 1356, and Osgoode Hall Faculty Association call on the university community to support YUFA in its effort to defend employees, students, and the quality of higher education at York.