Bargaining Bulletin #2
Bargaining platforms approved by membership!
Your bargaining teams are about to negotiate new Collective Agreements in a unified campaign across five units: Unit 2, Unit 3, Unit 4, Unit 6, and Unit 7. The work you do at U of T, St. Michael’s College, and Victoria College is critical, and you deserve to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect.
We will not allow U of T to divide us, and we know that together our voices are stronger!
Throughout the fall term, you and your coworkers voiced your top concerns and priorities for this round of bargaining, by filling out the bargaining survey. Your bargaining teams reviewed your responses and drafted bargaining platforms, which were shared with you in Feedback Sessions between December 2nd and 4th. The platforms were then presented, discussed, and overwhelmingly approved at the membership meeting on December 6th.
Here are the key bargaining priorities, with highlights from each unit’s platform (and you can read the full platforms here):
Compensation & Pay Equity
With the high cost of living and working in the GTA, you deserve financial stability! Higher wages and equal pay for equal work are top priorities for all.
In Unit 2, this means wage parity for Undergraduate Tutors who earn far less than their colleagues in other units. Unit 3 & Unit 4 members want compensation for course development and prep time. For Unit 6 workers, a wage increase is urgent since their pay has not increased by more than 1% in over a decade. Unit 7 is calling for a reduction in the amount of Graduate Assistant work that goes toward their funding package, so that they have more take-home pay, and are also calling for more paid work opportunities outside their funding packages.
Benefits, Leaves & Retirement
You and your coworkers deserve adequate benefits, with coverage for your families. This includes better health benefits, paid sick leave, professional development funds, and access to pension and retirement benefits.
Unit 3 members want tuition waivers for spouses/dependents; Unit 4 members seek improved leaves of absence; for Unit 7, expanded pregnancy and parental leaves are essential.
Job Security & Advancement
Precarity is a key issue across units. As academic workers committed to sustaining U of T’s reputation as a top-tier institution, you need better recognition for your labour, such as greater hiring transparency and opportunities for advancement.
Writing instructors in Units 2 & 4 are seeking improved job security provisions for long-term employees. Sessional Instructors, Applied Music Sessionals, and Writing Instructors in Unit 3 want better access to opportunities for advancement as well as shorter application timelines. In Unit 6, IFP Instructors are asking for greater say in curriculum development and leadership opportunities. Unit 7 workers want reliable access to summer work when employment is otherwise not guaranteed.
Equity & Inclusion
All workers at U of T, St. Victoria College, and St. Michael’s College deserve better protection against discrimination and abuses of power. Further, you all deserve protection over your intellectual property and original academic work.
Units 4 & 7 are calling for inclusion in decision-making processes, and in Unit 3 for equal access to the same resources and opportunities available to other teaching staff at U of T.
Meet your coworkers!
“Like many of us, I hope that we secure a foothold that recognizes that we are not transient or temporary aspects of the University, but a crucial part of what makes a cosmopolitan University. Everything coordinated bargaining is fighting for is simply recognition of this fact.”
-Darlene Heliokinde, Unit 3 steward, Department of Computer Science (St. George)
“For the past few years, Graduate Assistants at OISE have questioned how our wages will keep pace with inflation, why our working conditions leave us overworked and underappreciated, and why we are punished for receiving scholarships by losing our GAships and union benefits.
Things will only change if we take action together. Join us in this round of bargaining, and let’s get answers to our questions.”
-Kanza Tariq, Unit 7 steward, Graduate Assistant at OISE
GET INVOLVED!
It’s never too early to join the fight for fair working conditions. Volunteer for your campaign by filling out this sign-up form.
SIGN THE PETITION FOR FAIRNESS & RESPECT!
Add your name to the growing list of workers who demand fair pay, more opportunities for advancement and job security, increases to benefits and protections, and respect for all members of Units 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7.
