CUPE 3903, the union representing contract faculty, research, and teaching assistants at York, is calling on the university to honour agreements made in previous bargaining negotiations.
York has applied the tuition offset provisions according to its interpretation, which is the subject of dispute in the grievance that is before the arbitrator.
Accordingly, meetings will commence once again to discuss tuition offset for international students.
“The tuition offset is being interpreted at a higher amount, which is leading some of our members into dire poverty because they were expecting to get more money than they have received,” says Jen Cypher, chairperson, CUPE 3903.
The university has been withholding scholarship money and applying it to the tuition rather than giving it directly to the student, according to Cypher.
“They’ve also been applying things differently to different students, which is a problem because there is no transparency in how student funds are being distributed or applied,” she adds.
An arbitration meeting occurred on December 17 between CUPE and York administration.
Cypher says York is hesitating to accept CUPE’s interpretation of the collective agreement.
“Bargaining is an important part of the process and that needs to be done fairly and expediently. York is notorious for dragging its heels on these issues in bargaining.”
“They could settle this at any time by coming to terms with us and giving international students their full offset amount,” says Cypher.
Joanne Rider, York media, emphasizes that York disagrees with CUPE’s assertion.
“The parties have a difference of interpretation on this matter,” says Rider. “We have and will continue to work diligently to resolve it with the union.”
CUPE plans to hold a rally on January 20 to bring attention to their grievances.
On December 17, York agreed to explore the possibility of a mediated resolution of the grievance.
“Efforts at mediation at the outset of proceedings are a normative part of the arbitration process,” reads York’s media release.
The arbitrator, in role of the mediator, met with both parties to explore and discuss the possibility of a successful resolution. Unfortunately, the discussions did not result in a mutually agreeable settlement.
York disagrees with CUPE 3903’s characterization of the mediation process and their view of York’s willingness to honour the tuition offset provisions that it negotiated.
“The university and CUPE 3903 have very different interpretations of the tuition offset provision in regard to the sources of funding that can be used to offset against any tuition increases,” says York.
“We value our relationship with CUPE 3903 and sought to explore through the arbitrator and counsel for the university and CUPE 3903 a resolution of the grievance that recognizes the differing interpretations of the parties, but these efforts were unsuccessful.”
With files from Alex Kvaskov
Michael Zusev, Photo Editor
