Decision must still be ratified by general membership
Jacqueline
Perlin
Assistant News Editor
@jackieperlin
Students can all breathe a sigh of a relief for the time being as CUPE 3903 voted late Thursday to accept a ratification vote, effectively avoiding the April 12 strike deadline—for now.
The vote has come after months of negotiations between the union—which represents York contract faculty, research assistants and teaching assistants—and the university.
Mike Thorn, spokesperson for CUPE 3903, explains that the decision to accept the proposal was reached by CUPE representatives at 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning. He says the union then went to their membership to see if they supported the decision, and 81 per cent voted to ratify the contract.
This, however, does not mean the contract has officially been accepted, as the vote today was “to give the executive guidance,” says Thorn. The union must have the contract officially ratified by its membership, which will occur in a vote starting April 16 and will continue until April 20.
If the contract is ratified by next week, the decision will be accepted. If not, the union will either be forced to go back to the bargaining table, or get back into strike position.
Thorn, however, says he is confident the general membership will ratify the vote. The union was able to have the employer agree to a number of their proposals, including receiving a two-per-cent wage increase each year for the next three years as well as increased benefits.
With regards to contract faculty, however, Thorn says the union was unable to have the employer meet their proposals about the issues of limited job security, since the university is hiring only a limited number for tenured positions.
“[This round of bargaining] entirely revolved around job security for contract professors,” says Thorn. He says the issue will return in the next round of bargaining.
York administration has sent out an email stating that all exams will continue as scheduled.
