York U Contract Faculty

Rewind:  On October 16, 2007, Jessica Verb of the Globe and Mail asked President Mamdouh Shoukri  “What are your first impressions of York?”  Shoukri responded:

Well it’s an absolutely wonderful university. It’s a university that has been committed, since its incipience, to excellence in education and in research. It’s been particularly committed to inter-disciplinary education and research, which is a very important feature. It has also committed itself from day one to accessibility and social justice, and in some sense that is what attracted me to the university, as these are core values I believe in on a personal level.

Fast Forward: York Strike Sign of Larger Problems, University’s President says in Interview

by Elizabeth Church and Karen Howlett (excerpted from the Globe and Mail, January 29, 2009)

TORONTO — York University president Mamdouh Shoukri says the labour strife that shut down the Toronto campus for three months is a sign of larger problems that need to be addressed at the provincial level.

Just hours after back-to-work legislation was passed by the Ontario government and routine activity began to return to the sprawling campus, Dr. Shoukri said questions of funding and the use of contract faculty extend beyond the country’s third largest university.

So, too, does the question of protecting the rights of students and institutional integrity while preserving the principle of collective bargaining, he said.

To read the rest of this article, click here.

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In a related article in today’s Toronto Star, President Shoukri admits that after Premier McGuinty asked him to return to the bargaining table on Tuesday, but the university’s lawyers advised Shoukri to refuse to negotiate any further with CUPE 3903. This runs counter to the the principle of collective bargaining at York University, and, under Ontario Labour Relations Law, indicates that the President breached the duty to bargain in good faith.

“We had credible legal opinion that to go back to the table could undermine the process of back-to-work legislation,” said Shoukri yesterday, the first day he granted one-on-one interviews since the strike began Nov. 6.

To read this rest of York U. president denies he was M.I.A., click here.

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Post-Strike Story of the Week:  Ivory Towers in Freefall

Tags: back to work legislation

The following is an excerpt from today’s debate in the Ontario Legislative Assembly regarding the York University labour dispute:

Mr. Howard Hampton: My question is for the Premier. We’ve heard a lot about putting students first and doing what is best for them, and I know the Premier wants to believe that now, by simply legislating the workers back, everything is fixed.

My question is this: Can the Premier tell us how the needs of York University students will be served by continuing a scenario where many of their teachers will continue to be paid wages that are below the poverty line?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: First of all, I want to congratulate CUPE for its decision to, as quickly as possible, get this dispute behind them, return to their classes and provide the excellent-quality instruction that is available to students at York University. I want to thank them for pursuing this.

The leader of the NDP says that there are remaining issues, outstanding issues. I acknowledge that. We’ve turned this matter over to a process of binding arbitration. We expect that that will be resolved sooner rather than later, in a way that is as fair as possible to both sides. I expect that both sides will do everything they need to do-it may not be easy-to reconcile outstanding differences and to conduct themselves in a way that serves the best interests of the students.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bruce Crozier): Supplementary?

Mr. Howard Hampton: I notice that once again the Premier didn’t answer the question. He has to know that what’s happening at York University is literally that hundreds of people who were on the picket line have been teaching and working and have been paid wages that are less than the poverty line.

The Premier should also know that quality planning, quality teaching and quality evaluation at the university level is demanding and it’s time-consuming. Time spent planning a course has a direct impact on the quality of education that students receive.

My question is this: How are the needs of York University students served by forcing the contract faculty-who do most of the teaching-to continue to exist on short-term contracts of one year or less when they don’t know from one semester to the next what courses they will be teaching or if they’ll be teaching at all?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: My colleague asks that I insinuate myself into the employment relationship-

To read the rest of this exchange, click Howard Hampton Questions Dalton McGuinty Jan 29 2009

To read the complete Hansard transcripts of today’s proceedings, click Legislative Assembly of Ontario Handard Transcripts Jan 29 2009

Tags: back to work legislation

The following is an excerpt from today’s debate in the Ontario Legislative Assembly regarding the York University labour dispute:

Mr. Howard Hampton: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday morning I asked the Premier to call the president of York University and ask him to go back to the bargaining table. I understand that the Premier did call the president of York University and asked him to go back to the bargaining table and engage in good-faith bargaining. Could the Premier tell the Legislature how much progress has been made as a result of his telephone call to the president of York University?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I did in fact speak with the president to make it clear to him that there was still the option open to him to sit down and continue to negotiate. I understand that the university put out a release and addressed that and said they were not prepared to do that.

I understand that my friend is very interested in pursuing the negotiating dimension of this: what one party said and what the other party said and how they responded to each other and so on and so forth. I just think we bring a different perspective here on this side of the House.

I think the general public is saying, “Look, we understand there’s something called collective bargaining. But do you know what? This has gone on too long. It’s failing our students. We’ve got to get them back in the classroom.” So that’s the position that we’re taking. I’m just not going to get involved in the minutiae of trying to get people together and knocking heads together. It has failed us. I recognize that. What we’re doing is what needs to be done. We’ve brought in a bill, we want to get it passed, and we want to get the students back in the classroom.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bruce Crozier): Supplementary?

Mr. Howard Hampton: I ask the question because I think the response from the president of York University was pretty clear: It’s “screw you,” to students-

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bruce Crozier): I’d ask the member to just temper the language a bit.

Mr. Howard Hampton: I think this raises the question, how much evidence does the Premier need that the president of York University and the administration of York University never intended to engage in meaningful collective bargaining? They have used every dodge, every manoeuvre, every strategy, to avoid a negotiated collective agreement.

My question is this: Does the Premier really believe that the McGuinty government should reward this kind of conduct by the administration of York University?

To read the rest of this exchange, click Howard Hampton Questions Dalton McGuinty.Jan 28 2009

To read the complete Hansard transcripts of today’s proceedings, click Legislative Assembly of Ontario Hansard Transcripts Jan 28 2009

Tags: back to work legislation