Kanchi Uttamchandani | Assistant News Editor
Featured image: More than a year after their strike, Unit 3 of CUPE 3903 still feels targeted by York administration. | Michael Zusev
Amid ongoing turmoil about the new graduate fellowship model, CUPE 3903 Unit 3, which represents graduate assistants, elected Jeffrey Zavala as its vice-president in a by-election.
Zavala, currently a master’s in environmental studies candidate, promises to address the Unit’s concerns about changes to the funding model.
“The representation of Unit 3 is especially crucial at this juncture after York cut 665 Unit 3 jobs in September,” says CUPE Communications Officer Maija Duncan.
“Since that is approximately 80 per cent of Unit 3 eliminated from one day to the next, holding an election in which only members of the Unit could vote was difficult,” she adds.
York’s newly minted graduate fellowship model has been met with backlash and retaliation from the university’s graduate community, particularly regarding a disproportionate slashing of unionized jobs in Unit 3.
“The low number of Unit 3 votes, 11 per cent turnout, is a symptom of the employer’s attempt to eradicate that unit entirely. We need to fight back to save Unit 3,” read a statement from CUPE.
Despite challenges, the union organized a well-attended Special General Membership Meeting to specifically strategize around the fellowship model.
“This shows that the membership is willing and ready to fight to get those jobs back,” says Duncan.
“The new funding model has proven that the university does not respect its employees and plans to exploit all students by pitting them against each other by focusing on free labour through non-paid internships and non-unionized labour such as work study positions,” read Zavala’s candidate statement.
Zavala believes the most effective funding model is free tuition for all students and unionized jobs for all students on campus. He claims that many graduate students are facing issues with getting paid on time, or even getting paid at all, through the new funding scheme.
“The main goal I have is to get jobs back and maintain our membership in Unit 3; the plan is to mobilize and organize current members and all graduate students to make their presence felt by attending meetings with Faculty of Graduate Students,” he promises.
While Zavala maintains the union’s goal is to avoid a strike, he argues that York administration violated CUPE’s collective agreements and engaged in union-busting tactics, which disproportionately target Unit 3 members.
“I plan on working with the executive to organize our rank and file to put pressure on York administration to work with us in good faith to avoid any further strikes,” stated Zavala.
As Unit 3 vice-president, his responsibilities include representing specific interests of his unit with community groups, both on- and off-campus, and also engaging with the broader labour movement, according to Duncan.
“I promise to bring accountability, transparency, equality and social justice as an executive member through my fight against the employer’s austerity measures,” asserted Zavala.
CUPE 3903 is York’s largest union, representing contract faculty, teaching assistants, graduate assistants and research assistants on campus.
