Senate and Board ready for future strikes?

Victoria Silman | News Editor

Featured Image: The Senate and Board of Governors have approved of a working group to help aid decisions concerning university operations during future strikes. | Courtesy of York

The Senate and Board of Governors (BoG) have approved of a new joint working group to address future labour disruptions.

Approved by the Senate and BoG on February 28, the group will be responsible for addressing “jurisdiction related to cancellation and/or suspension of classes during a labour disruption, conditional upon Senate approval, and confirmation of the slate of Board nominees to the working group,” the meeting synopsis states.

The record-breaking 20-week labour disruption that occured last year, beginning March 5 and extending to the end of July, saw classes continue at the direction of the Provost, Lisa Philipps. Disagreement arose as a result of the decision, as some Senate members called for classes to be cancelled.

Elaina Tsonis, a graduate of the fine arts program and first-year education student, says she understands why community frustration arose with the decision to maintain university operations.

“I was done school the semester the strike occurred, so I did not feel the impact. But, based on what friends have told me, I recall people were not happy about having classes still occuring even though they were not guaranteed to have work marked by any TA’s due to the strike. It was like the school was just gambling with peoples education,” she says.

However, continuing classes was a way for the university to maintain some class integrity, Tsonis continues.

“It was silly, but if you did not go then you would not know any material if the strike was over in time to do exams. I think they basically did this to try to help the students because they knew that if classes were cancelled then they would have to, by policy, make sure that those classes that were missed were made up,” she says.

Regarding how decisions are made during strikes, Deputy Spokesperson for York, Yanni Dagonas, says: “It would be beneficial to ensure a clear understanding of how decisions with respect to suspension of classes during a strike are made and how those decisions are communicated to students and other community members.”

The York University Board of Governors Notice of Meeting Memorandum states the working group will be established to help decide which authority will have the jurisdiction to determine whether classes should be suspended.

In Appendix A of the package, the proposal states: “the working group will develop a shared understanding of the roles of Senate, Board and the administration with respect to cancellation/suspension of classes during a labour disruption.”

Furthermore, it will make recommendations of its findings, seek input from a diverse group of community members, and “present its report and recommendations to the Board and Senate for action at the completion of its work.”

The Senate-Board working group will consist of three elected members who currently serve on the Senate, one of whom will be a student, should a student be nominated.

Furthermore, the working group will also consist of: the chair of senate as a non-voting member, currently Franck van Breugel; three voting members representing the BOG, determined from among current governors; the Chair of the Board of Governors as a non-voting member, currently Paul Tsaparis; and one member representing the administration as a non-voting member.

The nomination period, which began March 1, will end March 15, at which time the call for submissions will close. The voting period will happen during the week of March 18-22 electronically.

Results will be announced at the next Senate meeting, held March 28.