YUFA

Executive

 
  Home

  Feedback

  Archive

Executive Officers' 2005-06 Workplan Progress Report

5 May 06 - As required by YUFA By-law 9(b), the following outlines Executive Committee Officers' 2005-06 work plan progress. 

• President
• VP Internal
• VP External
• Chief Stewards
• Communications Officer
• Equity Officers
• Treasurer

President - Arthur Hilliker

I executed successfully my workplan of 2005-2006.

As outlined in the workplan, I performed the duties of President as outlined in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws. I served as the authorized representative of the Association, was an ex officio member of all YUFA standing and ad hoc committees and subcommittees, chaired meetings of the Executive Committee and of the General Membership, initiated and co-coordinated the priorities and workplans of Officers, committees and staff and was responsible for the conduct of all YUFA affairs.

In additional to performing my duties as mandated in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws, I did further service for YUFA. I continued to meet with Departments and non-departmentalized Faculties to encourage participation by YUFA members in YUFA activities and to acquaint members with the services YUFA can provide. I chaired the All University Committee on Pensions (AUCP), helping to facilitate the setting of the stage for future improvements in the pension plan. I also chaired the YUFA group negotiating resolution with the Employer of the complaint brought by YUFA to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) concerning the interpretation of the pension plan text regarding non-reduction of pensions and the Employer’s concept of the “shadow pension”. With other Officers and staff, I helped organize and spoke at the new members luncheons, which have proven to be a great success. I served as chief fiduciary officer of YUFA. I continue to chair the ad hoc committee on Libel, which is still negotiating a resolution of this issue with the Employer. I and other YUFA Officers have assiduously lobbied the Employer to allow YUFA members due to retire 1 July 2006 the option to continue employment beyond that date. I have participated in the identification of those clauses in the 2003-2006 Collective Agreement that must be deleted or modified to accommodate the ending of mandatory retirement and have drafted a summary of the language change necessary as a result in the renewal agreement.

VP Internal - Mary Kandiuk

One of the main responsibilities of the Vice-President Internal is to assist the President in ensuring that YUFA’s internal operations are running smoothly and in accordance with the Constitution and By-laws. To this end I substituted as necessary this past year for President Arthur Hilliker in his capacity as President of YUFA. I was a member of the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement and the Long Range Planning Committee. I also sat on the Long Range Planning Subcommittee on Mandatory Retirement.

As Chair of YUFA’s Personnel Committee I acted as a liaison between CUPE 1281 and Executive and brought forward issues of information and concern to Executive on behalf of CUPE 1281. This included the renewal of the CUPE 1281 Collective Agreement.

I regularly attended meetings of Executive and Stewards’ Council.

One of the initiatives last year to support the priorities around Association Renewal was to welcome, inform and reach out to new members through new faculty lunches. To this end I worked with Executive Associate Jill Flohil, President Arthur Hilliker and Communications Officer Jay Rahn to organize and host three lunch-time sessions for new members. The first lunch, held on December 7, dealt with candidacy and tenure and promotion and included faculty hired within the last two years. The discussion was led by Susan Dimock, past President of YUFA and YUFA Executive Associate Monica Mulvihill. A total of 48 members were in attendance. A total of 41 new YUFA members attended a lunch time discussion on January 12 led by President Arthur Hilliker on the theme of salary and benefits. On February 24 a lunch was held at Glendon College for 8 untenured faculty on candidacy and tenure and promotion, and salary and benefits.

Another priority was to work with Executive Associate Brenda Hart to fill vacancies for YUFA Committees and to recruit Executive members for 2006-08. A general election was held and all Executive positions filled. Recruiting individuals for YUFA Committees continues to be a challenge and concern.

To support Collective Bargaining priorities I served as a member of the Bargaining Priorities Subcommittee. This committee was charged with preparing and analyzing the General Membership Survey in preparation for collective bargaining.

In addition to the above activities I was elected to the CAUT Librarians Committee in June of 2005. I attended and presented a paper on diversity and academic librarians at the CAUT Librarians Conference held in Ottawa in October 2005. I am also the most recent recipient of the CAUT Academic Librarians Distinguished Service Award which was presented to me at CAUT Council in November 2005.

VP External - Joe Levy

In view of my mid-term appointment, my portfolio was shortened but still very challenging.

In my workplan for 2005-2006, I identified 10 areas of concern bearing on the constitutional definition of my portfolio. I would like to briefly comment on the degree to which these have been approximated and some background on each of them.

1.      Perform the duties of VP External as outlined in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws.

I have found this area has a lot of latitude in terms of how it is carried out. Whether it’s attending CAUT meetings or community events, it allows YUFA to be involved in the day-to-day as well as the more distant developments in the community.

2.      Serve YUFA whenever the President, or the Executive as a whole, requests that I act as the authorized representative of the Association.

The President has asked me to represent him on a number of occasions, such as the York Parking Committee and these requests are critical since they carry the full weight of the President’s office.

3.      Work with the other members of the Executive to represent the Association in the most optimal and collegial manner.

This responsibility has probably been the most rewarding and challenging of my portfolio. Whether it’s been in working with the other members of the Executive on the Stewards’ Council or whether it’s been attending events that YUFA has sponsored such as the Joy Kogawa fund raiser at Trinity Church in Toronto. YUFA presence is highly appreciated and it in turn reflects well on the York academic community.

4.      Liaise with appropriate unions, student groups and other organizations, for example OCUFA, CAUT, NUCAUT and other labour, education, health and safety, retirement, transportation, and housing organizations.

Here my portfolio will take a little time to unfold since both the York and community-based groups require a lot of time to understand and the discussions and support are often complex and politically sensitive. Take, for example, the financial support that YUFA provides to Critical Times. The President, the Communications Officer and I have all had to devote a great deal of time and thought to insuring that YUFA financial support of Critical Times meets the overall goals and vision of YUFA as well as the political issues raised by various YUFA stakeholder groups in the academy. Critical Times has become a forum for a great deal of divisive political debate at York and it will require some serious review of the extent to which YUFA continues to be associated with Critical Times. I am also in the process of establishing links with the other unions at York and it will be a high priority for my 2006-2008 term.

5.      Track, monitor and comment on external political, economic, social and health affairs pertinent to the Association’s interests.

In view of the fact that I was elected with only 6 months remaining in the portfolio, I have not had much of an opportunity to address this area, but will be devoting more time to it in 2006-2008.

6.      Continue to nurture and expand the well-developed links with CUPE 3903, YUSA, Graduate Student Association (GSA), and YSF.

The same issue applies here as in the above area. I have only had very limited communications or contact with the above groups over the past 6 months, but this will certainly be nurtured in the coming 2-year term.

7.      Given my educational and professional training and experience in working in the health and human service field, I have been exploring ways to improve the quality of working life on campus for YUFA members that is in keeping with external legislative developments at all levels of government. I have also attended some workshops on stress, violence in the workplace and possible pandemics that could strike Canada in the future.

8.      Future land development at York needs to have strong YUFA input and I have started to explore which University bodies are responsible for initiating and developing land use planning strategies that would impact the YUFA membership.

9.      Provide leadership and support in campus-wide efforts to foster links with the Jane-Finch community and other community groups and municipal services.

This has been one of the most enjoyable and productive groups that I have worked with in my portfolio. Given the fact that the funding for this work is approved under my portfolio, it was critical that I attend all meetings and get a sense for the overall mission and direction of the work being done and funded by YUFA in the Jane-Finch community.

10. YUFA has a long and admired tradition of social justice and equity, and respect for the religious, political, and cultural values of minority groups on campus. These long-standing traditions continue to be respected and sustained.

In view of the excellent work carried out by the two YUFA Equity Officers, I have learned a great deal about the challenges of this area and a great interest of mine. As a member of the CAUT Council, l have attended several meetings this year where issues related to equity and social justice have been discussed from a cross-Canada university perspective and I have brought back many examples of successful efforts being initiated by other universities in Canada. A number of universities in Canada have established major Administrative positions that are responsible for dealing with faculty and student equity issues.

Summary:

Overall, I have thoroughly enjoyed the very steep learning curve that my portfolio has exposed me to and I look forward to a 2006-2008 term which will allow me to bring to fruition many of the items which I could not understand or work on given my shortened appointment.

As the new kid on the YUFA team, I would like to thank all the YUFA staff and my colleagues on the YUFA Executive for their constant reminders (badgering!), support and guidance during this difficult and steep learning curve.

Chief Stewards - Joan Allen and John Bell, Rutahnn Dyer (former Chief Steward)

We have over this term:

1. Assisted and represented YUFA members in contract-related matters vis-à-vis the York University Administration as these move from meetings with the Employer's representatives through the various stages of the dispute resolution process (Article 9);

2. Developed policy grievances;

3. Chaired meetings of, and expedited the work of, (a) the Grievance Committee and (b) the Stewards' Council;

4. Participated in meetings of YUFA's Executive Committee and the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA);

5. Articulated motions regarding information on the Stewards' Webpage, which have been passed by Stewards’ Council;

6. Consulted with the Bargaining Priorities Subcommittee;

7. Continued efforts to recruit stewards in units where they are needed;

8. Represented members at numerous disciplinary meetings;

9. Prepared, with Jill Flohil, a grievance for a hearing by the Dispute Resolution Committee;

10. Met with the SRC Caucus;

11. Consultation with lawyers regarding ongoing and potential grievances.

Narda Razack and Didi Khayatt were both re-elected in January 2006 for a second term of two years each, to commence in June 2006. The Equity Officers have a rather broad mandate to make York an inclusive and welcoming institution for all YUFA members and especially to examine the needs of those belonging to the designated equity groups. Brenda Hart is the YUFA staff member assigned to this Committee. Both Equity Officers attended YUFA Executive meetings, which are held twice monthly, as well as monthly Stewards' Council, Race Equity Caucus and other meetings, deemed necessary under this portfolio. We also met with on a few occasions with the AA (Affirmative Action) Officer Carl James to discuss equity issues.

We have begun to review the language pertaining to equity issues in the current Collective Agreement. Below is an outline of the work of the Equity Committee over the past year.

Equity Audit:

An equity audit was on our agenda for the past two years. This topic continues to be discussed at our meetings. We passed a motion to the Executive to hire a person qualified to undertake the work of an equity audit for the University. The Equity Officers are calling a couple of individuals so that the audit may commence in the Fall. Last year, after much discussion, we agreed to begin with the first item on the audit, the degree of faculty diversification relative to the student body, to consider targets to ensure fair representation. This issue will be a major item for continued discussion as it is an item for bargaining. Once more we sought and received some statistics to assist us with this goal.

Caucuses:

Both Equity Officers attended several of the monthly Race Equity Caucus meetings. This Caucus has a core group of committed members who discuss issues pertaining to speaker security matters, tenure, promotion and hiring policies and procedures. There is a new chair of the Caucus (Merle Jacobs). We also had nominated Geoffrey Reaume from the DisAbility Caucus and he attended and participated in the Equity Committee this year. The Queer Caucus acquired two temporary co-chairs, Kym Bird and Didi Khayatt, who called the first meeting in the late Fall 2005. The Queer Caucus met twice this year and passed a motion proposing a change of language in the Collective Agreement to be brought to the table by the forthcoming Bargaining Team. The First Nations Caucus has not officially met as a group, but Peter Cole has resumed as a member of the Equity Committee as of the Fall 2004.

Research:

There have been studies completed on equity from various sectors. We have accessed information from other universities on the matter of including GBLTQ in their Collective Agreements. We have sought expertise on mandatory retirement and also spousal hires, which continues to be on our agenda. We also spent the year collecting data to support some of the proposed changes to the Collective Agreement, which we will be presenting to the forthcoming Bargaining Team.

Workshops:

The Equity Committee, together with the caucuses, continued to discuss the purpose and goals of conducting equity workshops with various groups. The Equity Committee considered the intent, format, content and process of a commitment and understanding of equity issues at all levels of YUFA and with other joint committees. We brought discussions on equity to representatives from JCOAA, Stewards' Council and other groups to determine an appropriate plan of action. This spring, the Equity Officers organized one workshop, facilitated by Tina Lopes, to address equity issues with the Executive and YUFA staff. We plan to hold a similar workshop with the Stewards.

Bargaining:

The Equity Officers and the Chair of the Race Equity Caucus met with the Contract Review Committee. In the process of reviewing the Collective Agreement throughout this year, as well as at our informal meetings with the Affirmative Action Officer, Carl James, the Equity Officers presented the Contract Review Committee with five items for consideration that are important to our members in the various caucuses as well as from the membership at large. These include: 

1. Inclusion of GLBTQ as a fifth equity seeking group; language was developed to include this group as fifth equity seeking group. The Queer Caucus was reconvened and met several times this year.
2. Hiring process: training sessions for the entire hiring committee and other processes to ensure that more people from the equity seeking groups are actually hired;
3. Training session for YUFA Executive and staff by Tina Lopes to discuss equity issues that arise;
4. Provide a member from the Equity Caucus to sit on bargaining Team;
5. Thresholds for other equity-seeking groups similar to those for women;
6. Removal of the mandatory retirement clause;
7. Replacing Appendix “S” with the Employment Accommodation Process Protocol.

We discussed having an anomaly exercise conducted every year to guarantee pay equity for visible minority faculty. This issue was raised at a discussion with the Executive, the Dialogue on Equity Forum and also within the Equity Committee itself. We will be bringing this item to the Bargaining Team.

We organized a very successful “Diversity Dialogues II” in February 2006 to discuss some of the issues we hope to bring forward to the Bargaining Team. Talk is continuing with our members regarding other equity issues we would like to bring to the negotiators for bargaining.

We are currently discussing representation on the Negotiating Team so that equity issues will be discussed and included.

Conferences Attended:

Both Equity Officers attended a four-day conference on Bargaining in Ottawa, organized by CAUT.

Treasurer - Marty Thomas

In accordance with 2005-06 workplan, I have prepared an annual budget, monitored YUFA’s financial position and regularly advised the Executive Committee concerning that position, made investment decisions for YUFA, developed and proposed further safeguards re YUFA’s assets, proposed to the Executive Committee, more comprehensive revisions of YUFA By-laws concerning management of its assets, and generally participated in the affairs of the Executive Committee, including serving on subcommittees, such as the Joint Article 18.13 / 18.14 Committee considering teaching load.