TORONTO, December 19, 2000 -- With the greatest reluctance and after our best efforts to end an eight-week-old strike, York University has requested that the Minister of Labour hold a supervised vote early in January on the University’s latest offer to CUPE 3903, the union representing York teaching assistants, contract faculty and graduate assistants. The University is awaiting a response from the Minister, expected later this week.

"We are most concerned to ensure that our 33,000 undergraduate students can return to class early in the new year in a predictable and orderly fashion, and complete the Fall term and their academic year," said York University President Lorna R. Marsden. "It is important that we be able to tell our students now what they might expect in January," she said.

"There is significant disappointment in our community that the union has refused to put our offer to a vote. Many undergraduates and their parents, faculty, staff, and even members of CUPE 3903, are urging us to find a way of securing a vote, so we have decided to pursue a supervised vote under the auspices of the Labour Relations Act," said Marsden. Union members will be voting on the University’s latest offer, which further improved and built on a contract already second-to-none in the country in wages, benefits and job security.

"The University has made every effort to reach a fair and reasonable agreement with the Union," said Phyllis Clark, York University Vice-President, Finance and Administration. The University’s bargaining team began negotiations with CUPE 3903 in July, and made major movements during 20 bargaining sessions before tabling Offers of Settlement on October 20 in an effort to avoid a strike. The Offers, tabled before the October 26 strike deadline, were fair and reasonable in line with agreements reached recently with other unions on campus, and within provincial government guidelines for broader public sector employers.

In the negotiations since the strike, and in particular during mediated talks December 11-14, the University significantly enriched the offer to address key union issues, in a sincere and concerted attempt to reach an agreement and end the strike. This new offer reaffirms the standing of York’s teaching assistants and contract faculty as the best paid in the country.

After exploring all possible alternatives, the University has put this request to the Minister as the least damaging of the alternatives that now face the York community.

To see the full package of what CUPE 3903 members were offered on December 14, please visit www.yorku.ca.

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For further information, please contact:

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations, York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/131/00