York U faculty, assistants will vote on tentative deal Monday
Posted April 12, 2012 9:22 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
York University faculty and teaching assistants have voted overwhelmingly in favour of sending the school’s tentative offer for ratification.
That means that the 3,400 members of CUPE Local 3903 will vote beginning Monday until Friday with results available either Friday evening or over the weekend, union spokesman Mike Thorn told CityNews.
Both sides negotiated through a 12:01 a.m. bargaining deadline until 6:30 a.m. Thursday when the school issued its final offer.
Local 3903 then held a meeting with its members and recommended they accept the tentative offer, and conducted a poll on whether to send the deal for ratification.
The main issues were limited job security for contract professors, hiring practices and income disparity between research and teaching assistants.
Thorn said the union “got the employer to agree to a number of important proposals relating to teaching assistants and research assistants.” But it had “a very difficult time” getting York to agree to the job security proposal for contract professors.
York allows a certain number of contract professors each year to be converted to tenure-track professors. In the latest offer, it would allow two in the first year of the deal, three in the second year and two in the third year, Thorn said.
The most the school has allowed is eight a year, he said, adding the union was “disappointed” the school didn’t meet its demand on that issue.
“We really took a hit this time around,” he said.
More than half of the 3,400 members are teachings assistants, 918 are contract professors and 697 are research assistants.
The employees were in a legal strike position after the midnight deadline passed. York could also have locked them out.
York’s last labour disruption was in 2008 when it cancelled classes and locked out staff.
