YUFA

Executive

 

  Home

  Feedback

  Archive

Executive Officers' 2007-08 Workplan Progress Report

7 May 08 - As required by YUFA By-law 9(b), the following outlines Executive Committee Officers' 2007-08 Workplan progress.

President - Arthur Hilliker

I executed successfully my Workplan for 2007-2008, with the amendments listed in the following paragraphs. I took into careful consideration, as did all the Officers of YUFA and members of Executive, the recommendations made by the auditors for the 2006-2007 year. In particular, we were careful to give extra consideration to issues of Officers taking course releases as course releases, and to ensure wherever possible that members not currently active in YUFA positions were encouraged to apply for such positions.

I served as Co-Chair of the All University Committee on Pensions.

To facilitate the review of the 2006-2009 Collective Agreement and the development of new proposals for the next Collective Agreement, Executive formed the Contract Review Committee on which I sit. The Committee has developed a bargaining questionnaire / survey that will be provided to members. The Committee is holding general membership forums on specific topics.

The Joint Committee on Teaching Load and Class Size has not met. We first must deal with the issues surrounding the reduction to a 2.5 FCE teaching load for units with a 3.0 FCE teaching load. Also, the Committee cannot really begin its work until the new units are formed within the Faculty resulting from the fusion of the Faculty of Arts and the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies.

VP Internal - Joan Allen

I executed my Workplan for 2007-2008, with the following additions:

  • Served on the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA), including the YUFA JCOAA caucus;

  • Consulted with constituent groups, particularly mid-career Arts / Atkinson faculty, CLAs, and SRCs in order to prepare concerns to communicate to the Contract Review Committee, such as questions of buying back years of service in the pension plan and addressing salary issues;

  • Recruited Stewards’ Council nominations for representatives to Executive;

  • Served as a liaison on the Centre for the Support of Teaching Advisory Board;

  • Collaborated with staff and with the Communications Officer regarding New Faculty luncheons, and personally contacted new faculty to encourage their participation;

  • Participated in YUFA Community Projects Committee and attempted to contact and involve new members;

  • Served as a departmental representative of the Faculty of Arts Council.

VP External - Livy Visano

Performed the duties of VP External as outlined in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws, including:

As VP External, I continued to build on our past accomplishments and further strengthened proactive advocacy, coalition-building and ongoing consultation with our various constituencies on and off campus; enhanced YUFA’s external profile and presence; expanded YUFA’s engagements with community-based groups / organizations; promoted greater inclusivity with respect to CAUT and OCUFA; and facilitated more strategic and operational partnerships among inter- and intra-University unions, i.e., nurtured and expanded the well-developed links that my predecessors initiated with CUPE 3903, YUSA, GSA, and YSF to engage in more active, ongoing, mutual and progressive consultative processes.

Attended and participated in:

  • Executive

  • Stewards’ Council

  • Contract Review Committee

  • Campus All Union meeting

  • Community Projects Committee

Met with CHRY, Education Action: Toronto, YFS President, Marcus Garvey Centre, FIT, Tumaini House of Hope, The Hub: Corporate and Community Partners. Brought to the Executive Committee support for existing community projects, conference / workshop participation, and facilitated the development of community-related initiatives, for e.g., York Coalition for Responsible Investment (Burma), CAUT Forum for Aboriginal Academic Staff, Workers’ Rights, Human Rights: Making the Connection, CRWS, etc.

Off-Campus Activities:

  • Parliament Day, met with MPs, 22 Nov. 2007 (CAUT);

  • Queen’s Park, met with MPPs, April 2008 (OCUFA);

  • CAUT Council, 22 & 25 Nov. 2007; 1-4 May 2008;

  • NUCAUT at CAUT, Nov. 2007, May 2008;

  • OCUFA meeting at CAUT, 23 Nov. 2008;

  • OCUFA Board of Directors, 20 & 21 Oct. 2008, 2 Feb. 2008, 6 & 7 June 2008.

Letters / correspondence on behalf of the YUFA Executive:

  • Board of Governors St. Thomas University;

  • Publisher, Letter to Globe & Mail;

  • YUFA position statement re CAUT-TUFA;

  • YUFA’s response to Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance (OADA).

I brought Executive attention to various reports and press releases of CAUT, NUCAUT, OCUFA, CLC, and OFL.

Chief Stewards -  Penni Stewart and Walter Whiteley

In 2007-08, we have, between us:

1.      Consulted with, assisted, and represented YUFA members in contract-related matters; consulted with members with a number of concerns in areas such as Tenure and Promotion processes, accommodation of disabilities, workload, which are typically handled confidentially, and without grievance (while protecting that option if needed); represented members in disciplinary hearings (Article 16) and in meetings with the Employer's representatives through the various stages of the pre-grievance and grievance process (Article 9).

2.      Worked on seven arbitrations of grievances:

  1. Employment Standards Act (in progress with four dates in spring 2008),
  2. Academic Freedom (decision rendered November 2007),
  3. Senior Scholar (settlement achieved at arbitration),
  4. Professor Jazairi (in progress, one part settled),
  5. Forced retirement of 2006 cohort (in progress),
  6. Professor Ghada Jayyusi-Lehn (in progress),
  7. Article 15 Dismissal for Cause (in progress).

3.      Consulted with YUFA staff and lawyers regarding ongoing and potential grievances.

4.      Chaired meetings and expedited the work of YUFA Stewards’ Council, including:

  1. overseeing the elections of Stewards’ Council Representatives to the YUFA Executive;
  2. overseeing the first “arbitration appeal” under By-law 17;
  3. recruiting stewards in units where they are needed;
  4. providing education on selected the Collective Agreement clauses.

5.      Chaired meetings of YUFA’s Contract and Grievance Committee.

6.      Participated in bi-weekly meetings and related activities of the YUFA Executive.

7.      Participated in meetings, caucuses and deliberations of the JCOAA and Long Range Planning.

Communications Officer - Louise Ripley

1.      Performed the duties of Communications Officer as outlined in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws, including:

a.      Wrote for and solicited and edited submissions from the membership for the YUFA Website and YUFA-M distribution:
In addition to writing the regular reports required for the YUFA Website and YUFA-M distribution, I continued to produce YUFA’s newsletter, Active Voice (Reactivated), issued in both online and paper format (sent to members’ mailboxes) every other month.

Following the recommendation in the Auditors’ report of last year, I established a Communications Committee, so far consisting of members of Executive, but in every issue of Active Voice (Reactivated) I have published a call for a member of this board “not currently involved in another major YUFA activity”. So far no one has volunteered, but I hold out hope.

 

b.      Served on Executive Committee and Stewards’ Council:

I served regularly and faithfully on the Executive Committee and Stewards’ Council, missing few meetings.

 

c.      Produced a summary of minutes of the YUFA Executive meetings:

I produced regular and timely summaries of YUFA Executive meetings, available on the Website.

2.      Continued the past practice of Communications Officers in helping to organize and participating in YUFA’s New Faculty Lunch series:
We held successful and enjoyable New Faculty Lunches this year which I helped to organize, and attended.

3.      In addition to attending Executive Committee and Stewards’ Council meetings, attended YUFA General and Annual Membership Meetings and other relevant meetings:
I attended all YUFA General and Annual Membership Meetings and a number of other meetings relevant to YUFA, and have written reports on these where appropriate.

4.      Made myself as available as possible to YUFA members / Officers / staff and others who want to communicate with / through me; I am always available by email at lripley@yorku.ca, or I may be reached at 416-736-5236:
I have made myself as available as possible to YUFA members, including starting a practice, out of Tom Peters’ Management By Walking Around, where I walk the halls of York buildings, stopping in to visit with members as I find them to ask what they want from their union and what they might like to tell me.

5.      Served as Chair of the Contract Review Committee:
As we begin the trek into Bargaining, I took on the role of chairing this committee with the idea that part of my role as Communications Officer is being able to communicate as fully as possible with members as we commence what is for many members the single most important role the union plays – negotiation of our Contract.

Equity Officers - Didi Khayatt and Joy Mannette

We both executed successfully our Workplan for 2007-08

  • Attended regularly the Executive Committee and Stewards’ Council meetings where we maintain a watching brief on equity issues of the current Collective Agreement and equity issues which arise out of YUFA business;

  • Acted regularly as liaison with equity-seeking constituencies, such as the YUFA Race Equity Caucus, Access York, etc.;

  • Organized one meeting per term with the Equity Caucus, concerns from which we brought forward to the Executive Committee;

  • Didi Khayatt participated in the preparation and institutionalization of the Task Force on Inclusivity and Diversity (Article 7.10);

  • Offered consultation and advice as units engaged in Workload Committee deliberations (Article 18.08.2);

  • Sought assistance from unit stewards in identifying unit persons who could facilitate the collection of quantitative and qualitative data on the situation of equity-seeking groups in their respective units;

  • Made submissions on equity issues for publication in Active Voice Reactivated;

  • Attended local and national conferences relative to equity and academic faculty.

  • Reconfigured, after consulting with each of the equity caucuses (Race Equity, Disability, Queer, Aboriginal) the Equity Committee to be constituted as: two individuals (including possibly the Chair) from each caucus, with quorum reached when each of the caucuses is represented by at least one member. The Equity Committee as thus constituted met at least twice each term. We also instituted a listserv YUFA-EQUITY@yorku.ca to enhance Equity Committee communication and further the strategy of reconceptualising interconnectivity of equity realities.

Joy Mannette was very active in monitoring all the issues of discrimination that occurred this academic year. She immediately wrote to the wronged individuals or group expressing YUFA’s concern and support.

Didi Khayatt became a member of the Contract Review Committee and monitored all equity related Articles in the Agreement.

Didi sat on the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement to provide an equity perspective to the meetings;

Submitted numerous recommendations for contract negotiations to YUFA Contract Review Committee following input from YUFA Equity Committee;

Successfully submitted motion to YUFA Executive that Executive adopt the following Policy Statement on Equity (adapted from CAUT Policy on Equity, changed to add “ageism”):

YUFA Policy Statement on Equity:
 The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) is committed to equity for marginalized groups who are excluded from full participation in the academy (1). These groups include but are not limited to Aboriginal peoples, women, visible / racialized minorities, persons excluded on the basis of age, persons with disabilities, and lesbians, gays and transgendered peoples. The commitment to equity begins with the acknowledgement of inequity and demands a proactive approach to redress the effects of systemic discrimination (2). In the university environment, systemic discrimination has manifested itself in barriers to access, employment, inclusion, respect and acceptance. The result has been that particular forms of knowledge production, dissemination and pedagogy have been privileged over others, a practice that has limited the scope of scholarship for equity-seeking groups.

  1. The goal of equity is to achieve inclusiveness and social and economic justice through recognition, respect, numerical representation, accountability, responsibility and the development of balanced, healthy and harmonious working environments (3).
  2. When assessing scholarship for career decisions, recognition must be given to different and diverse experiences of various marginalized groups. Diverse substantive contributions to knowledge must be welcomed in the university. Diversity demands representation of difference in terms of vision, values, cultural mores, methodologies and epistemologies in critical analysis.
  3. Equity guarantees all people the freedom to realize and fulfill their potential free from restrictions. Such restrictions include unvoiced biases and assumptions, employment and education inequities, lack of accommodation and institutional structures, policies and practices which perpetuate systemic discrimination. An inclusive university is one that is active in eliminating these restrictions and promotes the full democratic participation of all its members.
  4. Realizing equity is both an individual and a collective responsibility, YUFA will take a leadership role in its realization by negotiating equity provisions in agreements respecting terms and conditions of employment. Success requires openness, transparency, and accountability in all areas including but not limited to anti-discrimination, harassment, employment equity, accommodation and salary equity.

Approved by the YUFA Executive Committee, 16 April 2008

ENDNOTES:

  1. By adopting this Policy, YUFA commits itself to providing leadership in the work of combating systemic discrimination, removing barriers and actively promoting inclusivity.

  2. In (paragraph 34) in C.N.R. v. Canada (Human Rights Commission), (1987) 1 S.C.R. 1114.

  3. YUFA recognizes the importance of the perspective of the Aboriginal peoples which sees the goal of equity as being the creation of harmony and balance between living beings and that Aboriginal Rights are entrenched in law.

Treasurer - Mary Kandiuk

This past year I prepared YUFA’s annual budget and financial reports and provided regular financial updates to the YUFA Executive. I monitored YUFA’s financial position, provided financial advice regarding spending and investment matters, and participated in the work of the Executive Committee. I facilitated the implementation of the auditor’s recommendations arising from the YUFA Financial Statements with respect to the previous year’s budget. As a member of the Executive Committee I received and considered the recommendations in the YUFA Trustee’s Report. I also served as a member of the YUFA Personnel Committee.

In addition to carrying out my regular responsibilities as Treasurer I served as a member of the Contract Review Committee and the Joint Task Force on Inclusivity and Diversity.