CUPE accuses employer of continuing to ask for concessions from union
Jacqueline Perlin
Assistant News Editor
@jackieperlin
Four months of negotiations and a total of 34 agreements.
That’s the number of motions that have been agreed upon by York management and the Canadian Union Public Employees (CUPE) local 3903, but the negotiations have reached a turning point with about 120 proposals still remaining on the table.
CUPE 3903 has made the first step towards putting the union in a legal strike position by filling for conciliation with the Ontario Ministry of Labour on February 15, asking for a government-appointed conciliator—or third-party individual—to help facilitate and attempt to enable the two sides to reach an agreement.
While the union emphasizes that it hopes to reach an agreement with the university through the conciliation process, it is also lashing out against the university, stating in a website update that “given the Employer’s reluctance to recognize our members’ needs and their unwillingness to bargain on a proposal-by-proposal basis thus far, the Union has no choice but to begin preparations to hold a strike mandate vote and set a bargaining deadline.”
Karen Walker, chair of CUPE 3903, explains that conciliation is the step before holding a strike mandate vote, which would determine if the Local will strike.
A strike or lockout of the Local, however, can only occur 31 days after the conciliation process has begun, which should be starting in the coming days.
Walker also explains that the university has failed to address each proposal made by the Local, and is instead offering a total compensation package of two per cent, encouraging the Local to accept the package and divvy up the money at their discretion.
While Walker notes that in past years CUPE has received a package of five per cent and that initial offers made by the university are usually low, her concern is that most of the items that have been negotiated upon thus far have been inconsequential.
Walker says that while the Local has given hundreds of proposals to the employer, the employer has only made six counter-proposals to the original package and are unwilling to budge on many of the important ones, including refusing to move on the “sign back deadlines,” where the Local is contesting the new deadlines given to teaching assistants to sign back their contact.
“Such deadlines are a not-so-subtle attempt to place the blame on us for the fact that they were late with September pay for 1,400 members […] despite the fact many of these contracts were signed in June and July!” states the update.
Walker says the majority of proposals agreed upon thus far have been items proposed by the university and accepted by the employer, not vice versa. For her, the actions of the university are impeding upon the negotiation process causing no agreements on key proposals.
“Without this leverage, we are concerned that the Employer will continue to stall through conciliation, talking in circles while our contracts continue to be eroded by inflation,” states the update. “Rather, the Employer’s stance remains unchanged: reduce your demands to fi t within our financial mandate and maybe then we can talk on some of these issues,” it continues.
Robert Castle, senior advisor to vp fi nance and administration, is adamant that the university is doing everything in its power to reach an agreement with the union and says that negotiations thus far have been positive.
“We’ve had good work done with the union,” he says.
Castle notes that the university received over 170 proposals from the union in November of last year, so it is only reasonable that the process is taking time.
“There’s been a lot of work done through our negotiations […] it’s hard to see how we’re not taking this situation seriously,” he says.
Castle also says the university is pleased to go into the conciliation process.
“We’re perfectly happy going into conciliation and we don’t see the conciliator as leveraging for either party. It’s a third party independent voice to help us to get to an agreement,” he says, adding that the university does in fact expect a detailed review and discussion of all the proposals.
Once a conciliator is appointed by the Ministry, the individual will reach out to both parties to continue with the negotiation process. Nevertheless, CUPE says that having a strike mandate does not mean that the union will strike.
