The recent strike at York University is being called the longest labour dispute at the institution, and the longest strike at an English-speaking university in Canada. It has been used by the provincial Liberals to attack the NDP, however the issues are about precarious work and need to be addressed. Instead of taking on these issues, the York University administration has been acting unilaterally and recently walked away from a CUPE 3903 offer which was essentially most of what they wanted.
Over 300 university full-time or retired professors, librarians and archivists at York University have signed the letter below demanding that the York University President and Board of Governers settle with CUPE 3903 now. They shared this letter with rabble.ca.
Open letter to the President of York University and the Board of Governors:
Settle with CUPE 3903 now!
We, the undersigned full-time or retired professors, librarians and archivists at York University, are deeply concerned with the unilateral and unproductive approach taken by York’s central administration and Board of Governors to the CUPE 3903 strike. This approach has had serious, detrimental effects on learning, teaching, academic decision-making, and job security for a range of workers at York University. And it undermines public trust in our university.
Months before the strike began, York University’s President and Provost issued calls for binding arbitration. These actions signaled their refusal to bargain with CUPE on major, qualitative bargaining issues such as job security, employment and graduate funding (which arbitrators often deemphasize). During the strike, central administrators have dedicated their efforts to ending the strike by force, without bargaining; they pushed a forced ratification vote on CUPE members, convinced the province to send a special commissioner, and lobbied for back-to-work legislation. Each of these efforts failed but wasted weeks of potential bargaining time. At the same time, York University’s Central Administration has conducted an intense public relations campaign, blaming the union for lack of movement. The Administration’s inept approach has paralyzed talks and created confusion and consternation among students and other members of the University.
As of May 10, the councils of five faculties, ten departments, and more than fifteen graduate and undergraduate student associations, passed motions of non-confidence in President Rhonda Lenton and York’s Board of Governors chaired by Rick Waugh. Comprising programs that represent more than 50% of York’s full-time faculty members and over 70% of undergraduate and graduate students, these motions condemn the Administrations’ refusal to negotiate with CUPE 3903 and its inability to engage in sound and collegial decision-making. For example, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and the York Federation of Students also passed motions of non-confidence. The significance of motions made by these two bodies cannot be under-estimated. The motions indicate that an overwhelming majority of graduate and undergraduate students have no confidence in the present Administration.
Crucially, York University’s Central Administration has also undermined the collegial authority of Senate on academic matters. In doing so the Central Administration risks betraying its fiduciary duties, undermining academic integrity and circumventing the York Act. Now, in the 14th week of the CUPE 3903 strike, the Central Administration canceled summer term courses taught by members of CUPE 3903, which leaves students few options but to take courses at other universities. At the same time, the Administration has started to assign grades to graduating students based on their grade average, not based on work done in the winter courses that were suspended by the strike. These decisions, which are taken to put pressure on CUPE and YUFA (York University Faculty Association), are deeply troubling and put the educational reputation of the University at risk.
In light of widespread concerns about the future of our university, we seek an immediate end to the labour dispute. We call on the York University Administration and the Board of Governors to (1) respect collegial governance processes, including the role of Senate; and act in the University’s best interest by (2) returning to the bargaining table with CUPE 3903 to reach a settlement.
Gamal Abdel-Shehid, School of Kinesiology and Health Science
Greg Albo, Department of Politics
Steve Alsop, Facuty of Education
Philipp Sebastian Angermeyer, Department of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics
Pat Armstrong, PhD, FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor of Sociology
Marie-Christine Aubin, School of Translation, Glendon College
Aimé Avolonto, French department, Glendon
Harjeet Kaur Badwall, School of Social Work
Steve Bailey, Department of Humanities and Graduate Program in Communication and Culture
Alison Bain, Department of Geography
Isabella Bakker, Fellow, Royal Society of Canada, York Research Chair, Distinguished Research Professor
Ian Balfour, Department of English
Himani Bannerji, Professor Emerita, Senior Scholar, Sociology
Deb Barndt, Professor Emerita, Environmental Studies
Amélie Barras, Department of Social Science
Tereza Barta, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Ranu Basu, Department of Geography
Jon Peter Baturin, Professor Emeritus, School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design
Paul Baxter, Department of Social Science
Barbara Beardwood, Senior Scholar, Department of Social Science
Shannon Bell, Department of Politics
Richard Bello, Department of Geography
Jody Berland, Department of Humanities
Faisal Bhabha, Osgoode Hall Law School
Amar Bhatia, Osgoode Hall Law School
Katherine Bischoping, Department of Sociology
Malcolm Blincow, Professor Emeritus, Anthropology
Marcus Boon, Department of English
Philippe Bourdin, French Studies and Lingusitic Program, Glendon
Rob Bowman, Department of Music
Martin Breaugh, Department of Politics
Linda Briskin, Department/School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Deborah Brock, Department of Sociology
Heather Campbell, Department of English
Nergis Canefe, Department of Politics and Public Policy and Administration
Eduardo Canel, Department of Social Science
Tuan Cao-Huu, MDS Department, Itec/Computer Science, Glendon
Marc Cauchi, Department of Humanities
Jon Caulfield, Senior Scholar, Division of Social Science
Sheila Cavanagh, Department of Sociology
David Cecchetto, Depeartment of Humanities
Chris Chapman, School of Social Work
Soma Chatterjee, School of Social Work
Claudia Chaufan, School of Health Policy and Management
James Check, Department of Psychology
Lily Cho, Department of English
Sylwia Chrostowska, Department of Humanities
Matthew Clark, Department of Humanities
Colin Coates, Canadian Studies, Glendon College
Elaine Coburn, International Studies, Glendon
Derek Cohen, Senior Scholar, English Department
Sheila Colla, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Bruce Connell, Linguistics and Language, Glendon
Diana Cooper-Clark, Departments of English and Humanities
Marc Couroux, Department of Visual Art and Art History
Cheryl Cowdy, Department of Humanities
Warren Crichlow, Faculty of Education
Alison Crosby, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Raju J Das, Department of Geography
Tania Das Gupta, Department of Equity Studies
Elizabeth Dauphinee, Department of Politics
Megan Davies, Department of Social Science
Nancy Viva Davis Halifax, Faculty of Health
Lykke de la Cour, Social Science
Kathryn Denning, Department of Anthropology
William Denton, York University Libraries
Gene Desfor, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Susan Dion,Faculty of Education
Mario DiPaolantonio, Faculty of Education
Dr Nombuso Dlamini, Director, Youth in Politics (#Yip), Faculty of Education
David Doorey, School of Human Resource Management
Susan Driver, Communication Studies
Lisa Drummond, Department of Social Science
Christo El Morr, School of Health Policy and Management
Denielle Elliott, Department of Social Science and Social Anthropology
Lorna Erwin, Sociology
Barbara Evans, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Geoffrey Ewen, Canadian Studies and History, Glendon
Sarah Flicker, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Honor Ford-Smith, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Scott Forsyth, Senior Scholar, Cinema and Media Arts/Politics
Jennifer Foster, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Gail Fraser, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Soren Frederiksen, School of Public Policy and Administration
Amber Gazso, Department of Sociology
Liette Gilbert, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Wenona Giles, Professor, Anthropology
Stephen Gill, FRSC, Distinguished Research Professor of Politics, Department of Politics
Rosalind Gill, Senior Scholar, School of Translation, Glendon
Amanda Glasbeek, Department of Social Science
Harry Glasbeek, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Law School
Luin Goldring, Department of Sociology
Mark Goodman, Sociology
Andil Gosine, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Ted Goossen, Department of Humanities
Laurence Green, Cinema & Media Arts
John Greyson, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Ricardo Grinspun, Department of Economics
Shubhra Gururani, Department of Anthropology
Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, Department of Sociology
Jan Hadlaw, School of the Arts, Media, Performance, & Design
Laam Hae, Department of Politics
Alison Halsall, Department of Humanities
Barbara Hanson, Department of Sociology
Eve Haque, Department of Languages, Literatures, Linguistics
Jin Haritaworn, Associate Professor, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Phillip Harland, Department of Humanities
Douglas Hay FRSC, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Osgoode Hall Law School and Department of History
Sharon Hayashi, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Lyse Hébert, PhD, School of Translation, Glendon
Judy Hellman, Professor Emerita, Social Science and Politics Departments
Stephen Hellman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Politics
Craig Heron, Professor Emeritus, Department of History
Rob Heynen, Department of Communication Studies
Philip Hoffman, Cinema and Media Arts
Teresa Holmes, Department of Anthropology
Jennifer Hyndman, Department of Geography
Pablo Idahosa, Department of Social Science
Susan Ingram, Department of Humanites
Merle A. Jacobs, Equity Studies
Stanley Jeffers, Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Physics and Astronomy
William Jenkins, Department of Geography
Jennifer Jenson, Faculty of Education
Sherry Johnson, Department of Music
Jan Kainer, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Hong Kal, Department of Visual Art and Art History
Ilan Kapoor, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Eva C. Karpinski, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies.
Ali Kazimi, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Magdalena Kazubowski-Houston, Program in Theatre and Peformance Studies
Peggy Keall, Dept of Social Science
Patricia Keeney, English, Theatre and Performance Studies (FGS)
Joseph Keeping, Departmetns of Humanities, History
Roger Keil, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Phillip Kelly, Department of Geography
Kamala Kempadoo, Department of Social Science
Didi Khayatt, Faculty of Education
Sean Kheraj, Department of History
Isabel Killoran, Faculty of Education
Stefan Kipfer, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Christina Kraenzle, German Studies
Avron Kulak, Department of Humanities
Abidin Kusno, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Hannes Lacher, Deparment of Politics
Larry Lam, Department of Sociology
Paul Lampert, Department of Theatre
Sam Lanfranco, Professor Emeritus, Economics
Ganaele Langlois, Department of Communication Studies
Suzanne Langlois, Department of History, Glendon College
Nick Lary, Senior Scholar and professor emeritus of Humanities and Graduate English
Frances Latchford, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Yam Lau, Department of Visual Art and Art History
Bonita Lawrence, Department of Equity Studies
Marie-Elaine Lebel, Language training centre for studies in French
Becky Lee, Professor Emerita, Department of Humanities
Louis Lefeber, Professor Emeritus, Economics and Social and Political Thought
David Lidov, Department of Music, Senior Scholar
Carla Lipsig-Mumme, Department of Social Science
Kenneth Little, Department of Anthropology
Jaime Llambias-Wolff, Senior Scholar, Dept. of Social Science
Brenda Longfellow, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Libby Lunstrum, Department of Geography
Meg Luxton, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Willem Maas, Political Science, Glendon
Marcia Macaulay, English, Glendon
Robert MacDermid, Senior Scholar, Department of Political Science
Heather MacRae, Department of Politics
Edelgard Mahant, Professor emerita, Glendon
Terry Maley, Department of Politics
Guida Man, Department of Sociology
Nancy Mandell, Department of Sociology
Joy Mannette, Faculty of Education
Janine Marchessault, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Jocelyn Martel, Biology, Multidisciplinary Studies, Glendon
Ian Martin, English Department, Glendon
Atsuko Matsuoka, School of Social Work
John Mayberry, Department of Theatre
Patricia Mazepa, Department of Communication Studies
Carlota McAllister, Department of Anthroplogy
Patricia McDermott, Department of Social Science
Gillian McGillivray, History, Glendon
Wendy McKeen, Department of Social Work
David T. McNab, Department of Equity Studies/Humanities
David McNally, Department of Politics
Andrea Medovarski, Department of Humanities
Merouan Mekouar, Department of Social Science
Gertrude Mianda, School of GSWS and GWST program, Glendon College
Jacinthe Michaud, School of GSWS
Aparna Mishra Tarc, Faculty of Education
Allyson Mitchell, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Radhika Mongia, Department of Sociology
Jean Michel Montsion, Canadian Studies, Glendon College
Esteve Morera, Department of Philosophy, Department of Politics
Brian Morgan, Department of English, Glendon
Marina Morrow, Chair, School of Health Policy and Management
Mary Jane Mossman, Professor Emerita, Osgoode Hall Law School
Georges Moyal, Department of Philosophy, Glendon
Arun Mukherjee, Professor Emeritus, Department of English
Nick Mulé, School of Social Work
David Murray, Department of Anthropology
Karen Bridget Murray, Department of Politics
Marcelo Musto, Department of Sociology
Natasha Myers, Department of Anthropology
Eric Mykhalovskiy, Department of Sociology
Taien Ng-Chan, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Michael Nijhawan, Department of Sociology
Jonathan Nitzan, Department of Politics, Social and Political Thought
Naomi Norquay, Faculty of Education
Liisa North, Professor Emeritus
Anne O’Connell, School of Social Work
Andrea O’Reilly, School of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies
Michael Ornstein, Department of Sociology
Deborah Orr, Department of Humanities
Laurence Packer, Department of Biology
Leo Panitch, Professor Emeritus
Hyun ok Park, Department of Sociology
Viviana Patroni, Department of Social Science
Mark Peacock, Department of Social Science
Linda Peake, Department of Social Science, Director,The City Institute
Muriel Péguret, Dépt. d’études françaises et Faculté d’éducation, Glendon
Elizabeth Pentland, Department of English
Roberto Perin, Department of History, Glendon
Patricia E. (Ellie) Perkins, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Nalini Persram, Department of Social Science
Randolph Peters, Department of Music
Kelly Pike, School of Human Resource Management
Dennis Pilon, Department of Politics
Sergei Plekhanov, Department of Politics
Justin Podur, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Brayton Polka, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Humanities
Ann Porter, Department of Politics
Anna Pratt, Department of Social Science
Valerie Preston, Department of Geography
Norene Pupo, Department of Sociology
Audrey Pyee, Department of History, Glendon College
Roberto Quinlan, Department of Biology
Indhu Rajagopal, Department of Social Science
Dennis Raphael, School of Health Policy and Management
Art Redding, English
Markus Reisenleitner, Department of Humanities
Geoffrey Reaume, Critical Disabilty Studies
Marie Rickard, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
André Robert, Department of Geography
Joanna Robinson, Department of Sociology, Glendon
Ray Rogers, Faculty of Enviromental Studies
Nick Rogers, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus
Wade Rowland, Department of Communications
Don Rubin, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Dept of Theatre
L. Anders Sandberg, Faculty of Environmental Science
Cate Sandilands, Environmental Studies
John. S. Saul, Professor Emeritus, Social Science and Politics
Rachel Schlesinger, Senior Scholar, Dept. of Social Science
Ellen G. Schraa, School of Health Policy & Management
Dayna Scott, Osgoode Hall Law School
Jamie Scott, Department of Humanities
Shirin Shahrokni, Department of Sociology, Glendon
Theresa Shanahan, Faculty of Education
Victor Shea, Department of Humanities
Joel Shore, Department of Biology
Marlene Shore, Department of History
Nicola Short, Department of Politics
John Simoulidis, Department of Social Science
Brian Singer, Sociology, Glendon
David Skinner, Communication Studies
Lisa Sloniowski, York University Libraries
Bruce Smardon, Department of Political Science
Ian Smith, Assoc. Prof. Emeritus, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Brenda Spotton Visano, Department of Economics, School of Public Policy and Administration
Glenn Stalker, Department of Sociology
Jennifer Stephen, Department of History
Penny Stewart, Department of Sociology
Karen Swift, Social Work, Professor Emerita
David Szablowski, Department of Social Science
Laura Taylor, Faculty of Environmental Studies
Patrick Taylor, Department of Humanities
Thomas Teo, Department of Psychology
Mark Thomas, Department of Sociology
Ozgun Topak, Department of Social Science
Robert Tordoff, Associate Professor, Humanities.
Temenuga Trifonova, Associate Professor, Dept of Cinema and Media Arts
Roopa Desai Trilokekar, Faculty of Education
Eric Tucker, Professor Emeritus, Osgoode Hall Law School
Steven Tufts, Department of Geography
Unnamed (12)
Dorin Uritescu, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, French Studies, Glendon
Karen Valihora, Department of English
Peter Vandergeest, Department of Geography
Gail Vanstone Department of Humanities
Jim Vernon, Department of Philosophy
Livy Visano, Professor, Department of Equity Studies
Usha Viswanathan, Glendon
Colleen Wagner, Department of Cinema & Media Arts
Philip Walsh, Department of Sociology
Andy Weaver, Department of English
Richard Weisman, Professor Emeritus, Department of Social Science
Fredric Weizmann, Senior Scholar, Department of Psychology
Richard Wellen, Social Science
Kimberley White, Department of Social Science
Walter Whiteley, Department of Mathematics and Statistics
David L. Wiesenthal, Professor Emeritus and Senior Scholar, Department of Psychology
Daphne Winland, Anthropology
Ted Winslow, Department of Social Science
Howard Wiseman, Department of Cinema and Media Arts
Lesley Wood, Department of Sociology
Patricia Wood, Department of Geography
Jenny Wüstenberg, Department of Politics
Douglas Young, Department of Social Science
Lélia Young, Department of French Studies
Anna Zalik, Faculty of Environmental Studies
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