YUFA
Collective Bargaining
Bargaining Updates 2009
by Louise Ripley, YUFA Communications Officer
Update # 3 - 18 August 2009
Update # 2 - 10 July 2009
Update # 1 - 8 June 2009
18 Aug 09 – After almost two and a half months of intensive negotiations, the YUFA Bargaining Team, led by Brenda Spotton Visano (other members are John Amanatides, Andrea Davis, Jill Flohil, Mary Kandiuk, Richard Leblanc, in addition to Arthur Hilliker (President, ex officio)), has pressed hard and been insistent in endeavouring to deliver the best settlement possible for our members. The Bargaining Team is mindful of the need to keep the membership informed and is pleased to report the recent building of crucial bargaining momentum.
Early bargaining in June and July was spent developing YUFA’s proposals into proposed Collective Agreement language, including consultation to ensure the fullest understanding of what informed our positions. Initial agreements occurred on non-monetary items and housekeeping matters necessary to build bargaining momentum.
Bargaining, in certain instances, has been a tough, uphill battle, but one that holds significant promise. The Bargaining Team is unified and firmly committed to seeking a tentative agreement with the Employer on key matters of crucial importance to our members and in delivering on member priorities.
Guided by bargaining priorities and Executive direction, the Bargaining Team has worked diligently to ensure that the many competing issues of our diverse constituencies are addressed in a meaningful manner.
The Team has now made significant progress (including tentative agreement contributing to a final settlement) on a number of key issues of importance to our members, including the following:
· Workload and Research Support – The Bargaining Team has been working extremely hard to press the Employer on this complex issue. Specifically, the Team is carefully attempting to bargain a joint process designed to produce a framework within which units will have the opportunity to reduce normal teaching load to 2.0 FCEs within the term of the renewal Collective Agreement. In addition, the Team is seeking to address workload issues for librarians. The Team is also bargaining for increased conference travel support and support for the Research Development Fellowship Programme.
· Equity – The Bargaining Team has made it a priority to advance as carefully as possible the key concerns of equity-seeking groups. Among other recommendations, the Team has been pushing for guidelines to encourage greater representation of visible / racial minority members to better reflect our student body, special recognition of the research and service of aboriginal members, and increased support for disabled members. Building on predecessor advancements in this crucial area, if a tentative agreement is reached on the above recommendations, this proposed renewal Collective Agreement will offer significant advances in issues of equity.
· Retiree Benefits – For retiree members, the Bargaining Team is seeking tentative agreement to enhance the support for and availability of out-of-country medical coverage; to increase the Employer’s contributions to support retiree benefits (for the first time since 2003); and to increase support for post-retirement teaching activities.
· Benefits – The Bargaining Team is also seeking a tentative agreement to secure and build the support structures for child care givers; to secure coverage of immunization for travel abroad (to support out-of-country research); and to enhance core medical benefits for all members.
· Compensation – The Bargaining Team has no major tentative agreement on compensation at this point, yet anticipates in the very near future that reaching tentative agreement on compensation will be achieved that is reasonable and sustainable.
Guided by the Executive authority and leadership in the bargaining process, and given the development of significant bargaining momentum, the Bargaining Team is hopeful that the both sides will soon agree to a responsible and meaningful settlement for member ratification.
Bargaining
Update # 2
10 Jul 09 –
After 1 ½ years of careful review of the Collective
Agreement with an eye to negotiating its renewal, the YUFA membership
met on 2 June 2009 to ratify, with some amendments, the
Primary Negotiating Positions
document. Consistent with the YUFA Constitution, on 4 June 2009, the
Executive appointed the
Bargaining Team members and one day later, the Stewards’ Council
ratified those appointments. The following Monday, 8 June, the Team met
for the first time and named Brenda Spotton Visano, Chief Negotiator for
the 2001 and 2003 rounds of bargaining, as Chief Negotiator. Four days
later, on 12 June, the Team met with the Employer for the first time.
Since then, the Team has met an average of 2 to 3 days per week and is
working hard toward a renewal Collective Agreement.
Informed by the Membership Questionnaire, completed in Fall of 2008, and
the principles outlined in the Primary Negotiating Positions, the
Bargaining Team is committed to negotiating improvements in the
following areas: Workload, Employment Conditions, Equity, Compensation,
Retiree Provisions, and Benefits. In keeping with YUFA’s By-laws, the
Chief Negotiator, on behalf of the Bargaining Team, reported to the YUFA
Executive on 8 July and sought its direction regarding these priorities.
The Team has and will continue to draw on expertise from YUFA and ARFL
resources, as required.
Both the Employer and YUFA have exchanged initial proposals. The sides
have been building momentum by finding areas of commonality.
Consequently, we have come to agreement on some items and are now
exploring more substantial issues, such as work load. The tone at the
bargaining table is cordial, respectful, and constructive.
The Chief Negotiator for the Employer is John Brooks, a labour lawyer
with Hicks Morley, who has served as the Employer’s Chief Negotiator for
the last several rounds of negotiations. The other members of the
Employer’s team are Barry Miller (Director, Employee Relations), Doug
Peers (Dean / FGS), Alice Pitt (Dean / Education), and Rob Lawson
(Associate Director, Academic Employee Relations).
YUFA looks forward to the timely negotiation of a fair and equitable
agreement for its members.
8 June 09 – The YUFA Bargaining Team started work today. It will look to deliver a fair and just tentative settlement in a timely manner, respecting the membership’s desire to see reasonable and equitable improvements in workload, salary, research support, and benefits.
The YUFA membership ratified its Primary Bargaining Positions at its General Membership Meeting Tuesday 2 June 2009.
The YUFA Executive has appointed the YUFA Bargaining Team, which Stewards’ Council affirmed at its meeting Friday 5 June 2009. The Team met earlier today and selected Brenda Spotton Visano as Chief Negotiator.
John Amanatides is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Master of Bethune College. His research and teaching interests include: Computer graphics; Realistic image synthesis; Ray tracing, shading, illuminant models, and antialiasing. He has been Associate Dean for the Faculty of Science and Engineering, has prior bargaining experience (2000 YUFA negotiations), has sat as a YUFA member on the Affirmative Action Committee, and is currently a member of the Joint Committee for the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA) and serves as a YUFA steward for his unit.
Andrea Davis is a faculty member in the Division of Humanities where she teaches courses in Cultures of the Americas. She is the newly appointed Deputy Director of the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC). In addition, she serves on the Board of the Harriet Tubman Institute for Research on the Global Migrations of African Peoples and is an affiliated faculty member with the Centre for the Study of Black Cultures in Canada. Her research interests are Caribbean, African American, and black Canadian literatures and theatre; postcolonial and diaspora studies; and black cultural and feminist studies.
Mary Kandiuk is a librarian with Scott Library Reference. Mary Kandiuk has been a member of the YUFA Executive for the last five years, as VP Internal and as Treasurer. She served on the YUFA Bargaining Team in 2006. She is currently the YUFA Co-Chair of the Joint Committee for the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA) and was a member of the YUFA Contract Review Committee which prepared YUFA’s Primary Negotiating Positions for this round of bargaining. She has been a member of the Task Force on Inclusivity and Diversity, and the Joint Committee on Affirmative Action.
Richard Leblanc is a faculty member in the School of Administrative Studies. His primary teaching and research interests lie in the areas of corporate governance and business law. He is a Senator, elected by Atkinson, and a member of the Senate Appeals Committee, where he has chaired adjudication panels and specialized in consensus building. He also has served as an Area Coordinator for Corporate Governance, Law & Ethics in Atkinson.
Brenda Spotton Visano is a faculty member in the School of Public Policy and Administration and the Department of Economics. She is a member of the Graduate Programs in Economics, Sociology, and Social & Political Thought. She teaches and researches in the areas of macroeconomics, monetary theory and policy, banking, and economic sociology. Previous York/YUFA positions include Chair of the University Senate; YUFA Chief Negotiator for the 2001 and 2003 rounds of bargaining; Associate Dean of Atkinson, responsible for budgets, and YUFA Co-Chair of the Joint Committee for the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA).
The Bargaining Team will call on additional members from YUFA and the Association of Retired Faculty and Librarians (ARFL) for specific additional expertise as needed.