YUFA

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Executive Officers' Workplan
2008-09

11 Nov 08 - As required by YUFA By-law 9 (b), the following is the Executive Committee's Workplan.

President - Arthur Hilliker

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

  2. Inform members of specific YUFA activities and facilitate participation of YUFA members in YUFA activities by meeting with units, particularly concerning the upcoming round of contract negotiations.

  3. Continue to review the 2006-2009 Collective Agreement as a member of the Contract Review Committee reporting to the Executive Committee.

  4. Utilizing the report of the Contract Review Committee, the membership survey and advice from the Executive, develop proposals for the next Collective Agreement renewal for approval by Executive, then Stewards’ Council and then the general membership.

  5. Serve on Senate as YUFA Senator.

  6. Serve as chief fiduciary officer of the Association.

  7. Work with staff and Officers to consider revisions to the Constitution and By-laws.

  8. Continue to participate in the organization of the new members' lunches in collaboration with staff, the Vice-President Internal and the Communications Officer and to make presentations at the lunches.

  9. Serve as Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Teaching Load and Class Size (Article 18.14 of the Collective Agreement) and, in that capacity, facilitate the acquisition by York academic units of relevant data from cognate units in Ontario and elsewhere.

VP Internal - Mary Kandiuk

As per the YUFA By-laws, the Vice-President Internal:

  • assists the President in ensuring YUFA’s internal operations are running smoothly and in accordance with the Constitution and By-laws,

  • recruits members to contribute to the Association,

  • chairs YUFA’s Personnel Committee,

  • is a member of Executive and Stewards’ Council, and

  • develops and carries out priorities and projects as part of the workplan.

In addition to the above-mentioned duties, the activities of the Vice-President Internal will focus on the following priorities in the coming year:

Collective Bargaining

  • Serve as a member of the Contract Review Committee which reviews the Collective Agreement, surveys and consults with membership, and prepares draft negotiating positions in preparation for collective bargaining.

  • Assemble and provide support to the Bargaining Committee (with other members of Executive and YUFA staff).

  • Assist with the collection and dissemination of information as it relates to collective bargaining (with the Communications Officer).

Association Renewal / Building Participation in YUFA

  • Welcome, inform and reach out to new members through new faculty lunches (with other members of Executive and YUFA staff).

  • Work to fill current and future vacancies on YUFA committees (with YUFA staff).

  • Work with all members of Executive and YUFA staff to develop a strategy to increase member participation.

Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement

  • As Co-Chair of JCOAA assist with the administration and implementation of the Collective Agreement (with YUFA members of JCOAA and YUFA staff).

  • Serve as a member of the Joint Task Force on Inclusivity and Diversity, a subcommittee of JCOAA, which is charged with overseeing a University wide audit of YUFA members, and on the basis of the results, make recommendations regarding unit Affirmative Action plans to address identified concerns.

VP External - Livy Visano

Perform the duties of Vice-President External as outlined in the YUFA Constitution and By-laws (italicized):

-- develop and carry out priorities and projects as part of the workplan

I believe that external development is integral to YUFA’s mission. As VP External, I will build on our past accomplishments and further strengthen proactive advocacy, coalition-building and ongoing consultation with our various constituencies on and off campus; enhance YUFA’s external profile and presence; expand YUFA’s engagements with community based groups / organizations; promote greater inclusivity with respect to CAUT and OCUFA; and, facilitate more strategic and operational partnerships among inter and intra-University unions. The above activities reflect three interrelated themes that characterize external relations: relationship building, representation, and recognition (3 Rs).

 

In addition to the above, specifically I will seek to promote the research activities of our members by i) facilitating links between the respective research interests in social justice and equity of our members and the various progressive community-based agencies/organizations; ii) facilitating research partnerships with charitable and non-profit organizations; and iii) recognizing and promoting research interests consistent with YUFA’s commitment to social justice.

 

Relationship building

 

-- liaise with campus unions, student organisations, OCUFA, CAUT, NUCAUT, and other labour and education groups

Continue to nurture and expand the well-developed links that my predecessors initiated with CUPE 3903, YUSA, Graduate Student Association (GSA) and York Students' Federation (YSF). My first priority is to collaborate with CUPE 3903 and the GSA re immediate issues such as the current process of University restructuring, FGS proposed changes, quality of education, etc. A strengthening of YUFA’s links with all campus unions and student associations enables a more active, ongoing, mutual and progressive consultative process guided by a joint commitment to political engagement. This open, accountable and accessible set of relations in pulling together reflects an authentic spirit of community collaboration. The following will be implemented: promote an understanding of the interests of all campus unions and student associations; increase the flow of information; encourage proactive consultation; invite a wider degree participation in the planning and development of various community projects. I will encourage a collaborative public education orientation (consciousness-raising) within York University (especially an outreach to the general student population) and the wider community regarding YUFA’s role and responsibilities as a union.

Off-Campus Activities:

I will liaise with appropriate provincial and national faculty associations as well as non-academic unions in terms of action and lobbying on such matters as labour relations, education, health and safety, retirement, transportation, and housing (e.g., OCUFA, CAUT, NUCAUT, OFL, Toronto and York Region Labour Council, Action Education Toronto, Ontario Health Coalition, and local teachers' unions).

Representation

I will seek to ensure i) YUFA’s active representation and recognition on provincial and national faculty associations and ii) YUFA's representation of the external interests of its members. These interests inter alia include: responding to prevailing “market” pressures, government benchmarks / targets, workload, erosion of union consciousness. As a leading unionized faculty association, YUFA’s active representation on these bodies is critical. Clearly, sustained communication beyond York University enhances YUFA’s profile, credibility and capacity to be effective.

-- track external affairs pertinent to members’ interests and co-ordinate involvement in associated actions

Recognition

YUFA recognizes and promotes the commitment of its members to social justice. I will work towards supporting existing community projects and facilitate the development of community-related initiatives (the input from the wider community and YUFA’s outreach activities). Given my experience in working with a number of community-based organizations, I will further pursue YUFA’s tradition of supporting issues of social justice and equity. I will work with members in promoting YUFA’s role and responsibility vis-à-vis social justice - notably external political, economic, educational, social, and health issues.

-- member of Executive and Stewards’ Council,
-- member of Contract Review Committee,
-- member of Community Projects Committee,
-- member of All Campus Unions Committee.

Chief Stewards - David Cabianca & Suzie Young

The shared work of the two Chief Stewards in the coming year will include:

  1. Providing informal and formal advice to YUFA members in all contractually-related matters and representing members in meetings with the Employer.

  2. Representing members in all stages of the grievance and arbitration process.

  3. Bringing potential policy grievances to the attention of the YUFA Executive and carrying subsequent grievances forward.

  4. Organizing and chairing meetings of the Grievance Committee and Stewards’ Council. In the coming year, Suzie Young will Chair Stewards’ Council.

  5. Participating in the work of the YUFA Executive and the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement (JCOAA). Both Chief Stewards attend Executive and David Cabianca will participate in JCOAA.

  6. Specifically assisting units with the application of the Collective Agreement in all matters of restructuring, and working with the Long Range Planning subcommittee of JCOAA.

  7. Providing information to members periodically through the Stewards’ Information webpage or otherwise.

  8. Consulting, where appropriate, with the Bargaining Committee and facilitating lines of communication between members, the Stewards’ Council and the Bargaining Committee.

  9. Recruiting stewards and members of the Grievance Committee, where needed.

Communications Officer - Louise Ripley

My workplan as Communications Officer for 2008/09 consists of my regular activities as outlined in the By-laws, including soliciting and editing contributions to YUFA publications, determining and implementing the communications implications of the workplan, developing and carrying out projects as part of the workplan, and serving as a member of the Executive Committee and of the Stewards’ Council. 

I also will write as appropriate for Active Voice Reactivated, for the YUFA Website, and for YUFA-M email publication, including summaries of the regular monthly Executive Committee meetings, notices of and reports on meetings of the General Membership, and other events that may be deemed to be of interest to the YUFA membership.

I will continue the past practice of Communications Officers in helping to organize and participate in YUFA’s New Faculty Lunch series.

This year a major focus of my work as Communications Officer will be communicating with the membership regarding preparations for negotiations as the activities of the Contract Review Committee intensify. This will take place through Active Voice Reactivated and YUFA-M. 

I also will continue my Tom Peters exercise of “walking around”, trying to hear directly from YUFA members what concerns them about their union, what they want to hear from their union, and what they want to be able to communicate to their Executive.

In order to accomplish my goals as Communications Officer, I will, to the best of my ability, attend all Executive Committee, Stewards’ Council, and General Membership meetings, and other relevant meetings, and generally make myself as available as possible to YUFA members / Officers / staff who wish to communicate with / through me. I am always available by email at lripley@yorku.ca, or I may be reached at 416-736-5236 (leave a message), but email is a much faster way to reach me.

Equity Officers - Deborah Brock & Didi Khayatt

Ongoing work of Equity Officers entails regular attendance at 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. Equity Officers also liaise regularly with equity-seeking constituencies, such as the YUFA Race Equity Caucus, Access York, etc. Equity Officers also organize one meeting per term with the Equity Caucus, concerns from which we bring forward to the Executive Committee.

This year, Didi Khayatt will continue participating in the preparation and institutionalization of the Task Force on Inclusivity and Diversity (Article 7.10), which offers consultation and advice as units engage with the final months of the Workload Committee deliberations (Article 18.08.2). Further, Didi Khayatt will also continue being a member (for one more year) of the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement. Since this year is the last year of the 2006-2009 Agreement, preparation for bargaining has already begun. Didi Khayatt, as Equity Officer, hopes to be one of the members of the Bargaining Team for the next Collective Agreement. Debi Brock will serve as the Equity Representative on Stewards’ Council.

Further, Equity Officers will seek 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. Of concern is how equity issues are taken up in deliberations concerning hiring, tenure & promotion, and Affirmative Action. The work will be shared by the two Equity Officers in order to provide the kind of evidence necessary to extend YUFA equity provisions for the next round of bargaining due to begin this academic year. Further, the equity-identified unit stewards will be asked to facilitate continued submissions on equity issues for publication in Active Voice Reactivated.

Building on the work of Joy Mannette (past Equity Officer) from last year, the current Equity Officers will continue to investigate the relevant equity clauses from other Canadian universities, as well as from suggestions from CAUT that YUFA may wish to adopt in the forthcoming Agreement. Didi Khayatt will continue to be a member of the Contract Review Committee and to make suggestions directly to this body prior to the Bargaining Team meeting.

The Equity Officers will also organize a discussion about faculty equity at York University in the Winter of 2009 or in the Spring of 2009. This will take the shape of a forum that would allow Equity Officers to hear from various interested YUFA members regarding concerns that could be taken up in the future. In addition, the Equity Officers will continue to bring to the attention of the CRC any suggestions made by the Caucuses.

Both Equity Officers will also attend the New Faculty Lunch series organized by the Executive and will speak to equity concerns when introduced by President Arthur Hilliker.

We will work with respective constituencies in order to improve the function of the equity caucuses, especially with regard to the intersectionality of equity issues.

Treasurer - Ray Rogers

The Treasurer prepares YUFA’s annual budget and financial reports, monitors YUFA’s financial position, provides financial advice regarding spending and investment matters, and participates in the work of the Executive Committee. I will conduct a review of internal accounting controls. In addition, I am a member of the Personnel Committee.