unions

York University is finally back at the bargaining table and addressing some of CUPE 3903’s core demands. Everyone knows the writing is on the wall for York, as rumors swirl of intense pressure for the administration to settle before April 6. However, York appears to still be holding back on some key issues, especially regarding international students.

I spoke at the general membership meeting the other night, where I argued that York administrators have now accepted that they are going to have to meet CUPE’s core demands in order to end this strike. What seems clear, however, is that they are attempting to lose in such a manner that do the most damage to the solidarity politics of our union, which is home to three different units (one for graduate student TAs and course directors, another for contract faculty, and a third for graduate assistants and research assistants). Each of these units has different interests, and the administrators already succeeded earlier in the strike in driving a wedge between the interests of Unit 2 and the rest of the union. (more…)

As a graduate student and member of CUPE 3903 at York University, I am currently on strike. Our fellow grad students at the University of Toronto, members of CUPE 3902, are also on strike. And as both unions go into our fourth week of withholding our labor, I’m starting to hear one word repeated more and more frequently: “emergency.” (more…)

I see a lot of calls for safety on the picket lines. In particular, folks are now heavily calling on the administrators and the Senate to think about the safety of picketers who have faced certain forms of violence on the lines. They are calling for these institutional figures to Read more…

York administrators no doubt thought they delivered a decisive blow to CUPE when their ploy to split the union, which was inexplicably but eagerly facilitated by a small but persistent faction of 3903’s bargaining team and exec, resulted in unit 2 voting to end their strike. (more…)

Dear Bargaining Team members,

First, I’d like to thank you for taking on a largely thankless task. As a former union organizer myself for the UAW at the University of California during my PhD years, I don’t envy the position you are in today. (more…)