YUFA FAQs Union Terms

YUFA

FAQs

Union Terms Explained (with a splash of history)

Labour relations: the legal framework

Death is the end of life; ah, why
Should life all labour be?
- Tennyson, The Lotos-Eaters (1832)

Labour Relations Board: The body established under the Labour Relations Act to administer the Act, including certifying unions, investigating unfair labour practices, and performing mediation functions in collective bargaining disputes.

The new King...took his place at the head of the board...His gloomy looks showed how little he was pleased with what had passed at the board.
- Macaulay (1848)

Bargaining Unit: A group of workers in a craft, department, plant, firm, industry, or occupation, determined by the Labour Relations Board to have common interests that make them appropriate for representation by a union for purposes of collective bargaining. YUFA's bargaining unit includes some 1390 'full-time' faculty and librarian employees, excepting those with senior management functions.

Employer: An individual or group defined in a collective agreement as ultimately responsible for the exercise and / or designation of management functions, i.e., hiring, firing, directing, evaluating, and paying employees. YUFA members are employed by the Board of Governors of York University, who designate the President, Vice Presidents, Deans and others to carry out management functions.

Certification: Official designation of a union by the Labour Relations Board as the exclusive bargaining agent, following proof of majority support among employees in the bargaining unit. The effect is to limit management's discretion in determining the conditions of employment for individuals, except where this is permitted by the Collective Agreement, by forcing employers to recognise and deal with workers collectively. YUFA was certified in October 1977.

'Block-printers is going to strike; they'n getten a bang-up Union, as won't let 'em be put upon.' - Mrs. Gaskell (1848)

Rand Formula: 'A landmark legal decision followed a [1945] strike in Windsor, Ontario involving 17,000 Ford workers. Justice Ivan Rand granted the union, as part of the settlement, the compulsory check-off of union dues. Rand ruled that all workers in a bargaining unit benefited from a union-negotiated contract. Therefore, he reasoned they must pay union dues, although they did not have to join the union. This decision meant a degree of financial stability for unions never previously enjoyed. This formula, when combined with the decision of the federal government to codify P.C. 1003 [which protected the workers' right to organise and required employers to recognise unions chosen by a majority of workers] into the Industrial Relations and Disputes Act, created the legal framework for labour relations in Canada for the next 30 years.' (© 2001 Canadian Museum of Civilization)

Arbitration: A method of settling disputes established by the Ontario Labour Relations Act involving the intervention of a third party, whose decision is final and binding. Such a third party can be one person or a board. The arbitration process is often the last step in settling grievances. Where the law prevents workers from striking or by agreement of the parties, it can be used as a final stage of collective bargaining.

Collective bargaining / negotiations

Collective Bargaining / Negotiations: Method of determining wages, hours, and other conditions of employment through face-to-face discussions of bargaining proposals between teams of negotiators appointed by the union and employer. Normally the result of collective bargaining is a written contract which covers all employees in the bargaining unit. YUFA has bargained 17 Collective Agreements with York's Board of Governors.

Of. bargaigne-r = Pr. barganhar, It. barganare:late L. barcnere, barcnire (in Capit. Charles the Bald), which Diez proposes to refer (through *barcne-us: see BARGAIN n.I) to barca 'a bark or barge, which,' according to the definition of Isidore, 'carries goods to and fro'; thence might arise the sense of either 'go backwards and forwards, come and go as to a matter, be off and on' (cf. mod.F. barguigner to hesitate, have difficulty in making up one's mind), or of 'trade, traffic, deal'. - OED

Bargaining Proposals: Proposed changes to a collective agreement put forward in bargaining by a union or an employer and subject to collective bargaining. Unions have a duty to consult their members in formulating such proposals. YUFA's Constitution requires that members ratify the union's initial proposals before collective bargaining begins.

Conciliation: A mandatory process established by the Ontario Labour Relations Act to attempt to resolve collective bargaining impasses. At the request of either an employer or a union, the Minister of Labour, through the Labour Relations Board, appoints one of its Conciliation Officers to attempt to mediate between the parties. The Officer's recommendations to the parties aren't binding; it's up to the parties to accept or ignore them. While either party is still willing to move, the Conciliation Officer continues to work for a settlement. If this process fails ...

'No Board' Report: Where a Conciliation Officer concludes that a union and an employer are unready to reach agreement, the Officer may recommend that the Minister of Labour issue a notice to the parties that the conciliation process will end, without invoking a Conciliation Board. This notice is referred to as a 'no board' report. That the Conciliation Officer has the power to make this recommendation is what puts pressure on the parties to settle in conciliation.

Following release of the notice plus 14 days, the collective agreement ceases to operate: the union is in a legal strike position and the employer can legally alter the terms and conditions of work and lock out the bargaining unit. Conversely, no union can legally strike and no employer can legally lock a union out without the release of a 'no board' report by the Minister.

Mediation - A labour dispute resolution process that involves a neutral third party conferring with the parties and attempting to obtain their voluntary agreement. This process may take place within the Labour Relations Board framework or outside it. In collective bargaining specifically, the term refers to a process whereby the Minister of Labour may, at the parties' request, appoint a mediator selected by them jointly to confer with them and attempt to effect a settlement. The parties may hire a private mediator at any time during bargaining.

Collective agreements

Collective Agreement / Contract: An agreement in writing between one or more unions acting as bargaining agent, and one or more employers, covering wages, hours, working conditions, benefits, rights of workers and the union, and procedures for settling disputes and grievances.

Base Salary: The total wages to which an employee is entitled on an ongoing basis during periods of full-time service. This is distinct from one-time-only payments, e.g., bonuses and stipends.

ad.L. salarium, orig. money allowed to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt, hence, their pay.
- OED

Benefits: Non-wage compensation, such as paid vacations, pensions, health and welfare provisions, life insurance, etc., the cost of which is borne in whole or in part by the employer. 'Salary-based benefits' are those that increase with higher pay, e.g., pension contributions, life insurance.

'Well, if he's badly hurt, there'll be the Union-pay, and sick-pay we shall manage.' - DH Lawrence, The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (1914)

Check-off: A clause in a collective agreement authorizing an employer to deduct union dues from bargaining unit members' pay and transmit these funds to the union. YUFA's dues are 1.1% of each member's earnings.

Grievance: Complaint against management by one or more employees, or a union, concerning an alleged breach of the collective agreement, an alleged injustice, and / or an alleged breach of a relevant statute, e.g., the Employment Standards Act. Management can also grieve. The procedure for handling grievances is defined in the Agreement.

OF. grevance, grievance, f. grever to harm. - OED

If...a man of gretter myght and strengthe than thou art do thee grevaunce, studie and bisye thee rather to stille the same grevaunce, than for to venge thee. - Chaucer (c1386)

Job Classifications: A group of employees who have similar qualifications and responsibilities and therefore share titles, wage structures, evaluation criteria, etc. YUFA has ten job classes: Professorial, Alternate, and librarian, each divided into tenured, probationary, and Contractually Limited categories. The 10^th is Special Renewable Contracts (SRCs).

Probation: A period at the beginning of employment that's usually governed by specific clauses of a collective agreement. A probationary employee may have fewer rights and benefits and usually can be terminated with less cause than 'permanent' employees. YUFA's probationary period is up to six years.

This peple [Essenes]..not takenge eny man to theire secte withowte probacion by the space of a yere. - Higden's Polychronicon (tr. 1432-50)

The Vulgar Probation by casting into the Water practised upon Persons accused with other Crimes as well as that of Witchcraft. - I. Mather (1693)

Terms and Conditions: Conditions pertaining to the workers’ job environment, such as hours of work, safety, paid holidays and vacations, possibilities of advancement, etc. Many of these are included in collective agreements and subject to collective bargaining.

Strikes & lockouts

Strike Vote: A vote conducted among members of a union to determine whether to give the union's executive committee / board the right to call a strike if collective bargaining isn't successful. In Ontario, such votes are mandatory before strikes. They must be held by secret ballot and can be held no more than 30 days before a collective agreement expires. A favourable strike vote increases a union's leverage in bargaining, potentially breaking a bargaining impasse, but does not necessarily lead to a strike.

Strike: A refusal to work by employees to compel an employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment, usually in the last stage of collective bargaining if all other means have failed. Except in special cases, strikes are legal when a collective agreement is not in force (see 'Conciliation' and 'No Board' above). YUFA's last strike was March-May 1997.

In a rotating strike, only some of the employees stop work at any given time, each group taking its turn. A sympathy strike is by workers not directly involved in a labour dispute - an attempt to show labour solidarity and bring pressure on an employer. A wildcat strike takes place during the term of a collective agreement, therefore violating both collective agreement and law. Work to rule isn't a strike, but rather a slowdown in which workers do everything 'by the book'.

A body of sailors..proceeded..to Sunderland.., at at the cross there read a paper, setting forth their grievances...After this they went on board the several ships in that harbour, and struck (lowered down) their yards, in order to prevent them from proceeding to sea. - Ann. Reg. (1768)

She had on one occasion threatened to strike lecturing. - Trollope (1878)

Lockout: Tactic used by an employer to get a settlement on its own terms by refusing work to employees or by closing.

Strike-breakers / Scabs: Persons who continue to work or who do the work of those on strike. By filling their jobs, strike-breakers may weaken or break a strike. For example, if your TAs are on strike and you cover their tutorials / labs and do their grading, you are strike-breaking.

What is a scab? He is to his trade what a traitor is to his country..He first sells the journeymen, and is himself afterwards sold in his turn by the masters, till at last he is despised by both and deserted by all. - 1792 document, cited in The Early English Trade Unions: Documents from the Home Office Papers in the Public Record Office.

Union organisation

The difficulty of organising labour, particularly in the masses, is well known. - Barry, Dockyard Econ. (1863)

Local: The basic unit of union organisation. Trade unions are divided into a number of locals for the purpose of local administration. These locals have their own by-laws and elect their own officers. They are usually responsible for the negotiation and day-to-day administration of the collective agreements covering their members. YUFA is a local of the National Union of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (NUCAUT). CUPE 3903 and CUPE 1356 are locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Constitution and By-laws: Documents that establish a union's organisation, decision-making structures, and procedures. For YUFA's, click here.

Per Capita Tax: Regular payments by a local to its regional, national or international labour organisations to which it is affiliated. YUFA pays $0.85 per member monthly to the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) through the National Union of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (NUCAUT).

Steward: A union activist who represents a specific group of members and the union. For more info, see By-law 7.

Poor Panurge..sat on the Deck all in a heap,..and..bawl'd out frightfully, Steward, Maistre d'Hostel,..pr'ythee let's have a piece of Powder'd Beef or Pork. - Rabelais (tr. 1694)

Executive Committee or Board: The body charged with day-to-day decision-making for a union. It usually comprises a union’s elected officers and is accountable to the membership (at general meetings) and to councils or conventions of member representatives. YUFA’s Executive Committee is made up of ten Officers and four other representatives.

More info?

Your Collective Agreement, Definitions, Articles 2 (recognition), 4 (dues check-off), 5 (association / employer relations), 6 (strikes & lockouts), 9 (grievance & arbitration), 27 (union rights & privileges), & 32 (contract term), & Appendix A (bargaining unit).
YUFA By-laws
YUFA Constitution

Credits: Thanks to Canadian Union of Public Employees for ideas & content.

Version: January 2010