YUFA
Publications
YUFA Digest no. 1, November 2010
by Jay Rahn, YUFA Communications Officer
9 Nov 10 - As a result of members’ requests for increased communication by YUFA’s Executive with the Association’s Membership, the following report amplifies President Arthur Hilliker’s recent account of YUFA activities during the Summer. The present installment focuses on the larger context within which YUFA works – in particular, on recent developments among:
- Organizations affiliated with YUFA,
- YUFA’s Outreach to other groups,
- news from other Ontario public-sector workplaces,
- YUFA’s Employer.
(Activities of YUFA’s Executive Committee are outlined monthly in the Executive Summaries at the YUFA Website.)
Organizations Affiliated with YUFA …
As a unionized association of full-time faculty and librarians, YUFA is affiliated with several organizations that advocate on behalf of our interests:
CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers)
- Long-Form Census: More than 300 organizations have joined the call for reinstatement of the mandatory long-form census since the federal government announced the shift to voluntary disclosure (3 September 2010).
- Intellectual Property: CAUT advisory on Bill C-32 (the Copyright Modernization Act) identifies the Bill’s positive and negative aspects and discusses what the education / library community can do over the coming months to improve the legislation (24 August 2010).
- Access Copyright: Students and teachers say that a tariff being proposed by Access Copyright would infringe privacy rights and burden students with tens of millions of dollars in new fees each year (12 August 2010).
CLC (Canadian Labour Congress)
Through NUCAUT, which consists of unionized faculty / librarian associations within CAUT, YUFA is affiliated with the CLC. YUFA’s delegates to NUCAUT / CLC are Livy Visano and Heidi Bishop.
- Rise Up for Your Rights Conference (Ottawa, 8-11 December 2010): Activist conference for workers who recognize and are determined to change what the federal government’s policies mean for Aboriginal and racialized communities, for LGBT communities, for people living with disabilities, and for women.
OCUFA (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations)
- The Race to Globalize Higher Education Conference (Toronto, 21-22 January 2011): Examines current government and university initiatives to recruit international students and faculty to Canadian campuses and to establish programs and campuses in other countries, the comparative experience of other jurisdictions, and new polling data on public perceptions regarding the internationalization of Canadian campuses. YUFA members attending and reporting on this conference are Juliya Borie, Mitzi Mitchell, and Indhu Rajagopal.
In conformity with By-law 18, YUFA supports specific groups and causes in order to ‘advance educational equity, social justice, and democratic bargaining.’
Among these, YUFA accords the highest priority to groups that work to advance academic accessibility, equity and democratic decision-making in education, groups from the York University community or immediate neighbourhoods that seek support for educational, social-justice, or recreational purposes, as well as labour organizations whose goals are broadly consistent with academic values, equity concerns, and democratic collective bargaining.
Groups and causes that YUFA has supported since the Summer of 2010 include the following:
- Rastafest, UpFront Theatre Foundation, Jane-Finch Mall, July 2010.
- Striking workers at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (Lakehead and Laurentian) who have been attempting to negotiate their first contract; their strike began 16 August 2010 and continues to the present: online coverage continues at the OPSEU Website. A tentative settlement was reached 27 October 2010 and a ratification vote held 5 November 2010.
- 13th Annual Social Justice Retreat, Centre for Social Justice, Arowhon, Algonquin Park, 26-29 August 2010.
- Transition Year Program, York University, September 2010 – April 2011.
News from other Ontario public-sector workplaces …
According to OCUFA:
“A survey of public-sector employers reveals that less than three per cent are planning wages freezes, in spite of the Ontario government’s no-net compensation wage policy.”
“A Conference Board of Canada survey of public sector employers reveals that less than three per cent are planning zero-per-cent wage increases this year. That figure is down from last year’s six per cent, in spite of the Ontario government’s no-net compensation wage policy.”
“In fact, surveys conducted by the most respected wage analysts in the industry show that employers are approving wage increases above two per cent for 2010.”
“The Hay Group’s survey of the broader public sector shows an average 2.4 per cent increases in that sector, while the Hewitt Associates’ survey shows 2.5 per cent.”
“An Ontario government argument for public-sector wage freezes was that public employees were pulling ahead of private sector workers. But Conference Board surveys are showing an average 2.3 per cent wage increase in the public sector, compared to 2.9 per cent in the private sector.”
(Click here for Conference Board reports.)
Carleton University Academic Staff Association’s strike vote was supported by 88.5% of members (5 October 2010).
Mediator / arbitrator Martin Teplitzky, Q.C., awarded 4.5% over 2 years to the University of Toronto Faculty Association for salary and benefits (12 October 2010). Although workload remains to be decided, Teplitzky also ruled on pension matters.
A tentative agreement has been reached with the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (2 November 2010): 87% of UWOFA’s members had voted in favour of a strike.
At recent meetings, York’s Board of Governors received:
- the Vice-President Finance and Administration’s 2010-13 Budget Plan (21 June 2010), noting in particular a net decrease of approximately $10 million in the projected deficit from the June 2009 plan due to enrolment in the Summer, Fall, Winter 2009 academic sessions.
- the Annual Report on the York University Pension Plan (4 October 2010), noting in particular the Ontario government’s recent pension reforms, which include solvency relief; employers and members can negotiate changes and plans that demonstrate sufficient progress towards sustainability and then up to 10 years (rather than 5 years) to implement the changes and liquidate their solvency deficits.
- a report that representatives of the Employer had attended, along with representatives of YUFA and CUPE 3903, the Ontario Government’s sector-wide tables on compensation restraint in August and concluded that there is no evidence that framework agreements with bargaining agents on this issue will be likely.
Recently, York’s President, Mamdouh Shoukri, published an opinion piece in the Toronto Star (29 October 2010).
As well as advocating internationalization, the piece says that ‘small classes being taught by faculty who spend 40 per cent of their time teaching and the rest dedicated to research is no longer feasible’ and mentions recent suggestions that there be ‘a new stream of faculty focused on teaching with limited research functions, and undergraduate-only universities.’ As well, the article states that ‘commercialization of the results of university research … should also include deployment of new knowledge in the humanities, social sciences and arts.’
(In the New York speech referred to in the op-ed piece, President Shoukri had said York needs to expand in two areas: science and applied science.)
Vice-President Research & Innovation Shapson recently hosted an open forum on the Research Intensification White Paper (25 October 2010). Issues that arose at the forum included:
- post-tenure review,
- Research Associates / Scientists as an employment category,
- what role, if any, Organized Research Units (ORUs) will play in research intensification.
Disclaimer: This Digest is for the information of YUFA members. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and currency as of the date of publication. Unless expressly stated to the contrary, views expressed on this site are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of YUFA.
Click here for YUFA’s communications policy.