Tentative Settlement Achieved

A Tentative Settlement was achieved today in the Negotiations of CUPE Local 1356 and York University. The Ratification Meetings will be conducted on Tuesday November 4th 2008. Day shift members will meet at their session at 9:00 AM with the Night shift members starting earlier than their usual start time and combining with the Evening shift members for their meeting at 8:00 PM.

Patient Safety in Ontario Acute Care Hospitals: A Snapshot of Hospital-Acquired Infection Control Practices

According to a new analysis from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), 99% of the 103 Ontario hospitals participating in a 2008 patient safety survey reported that they had a formal hand hygiene policy in place, and just more than one-third of these (38%) established an auditing process to ensure that proper handwashing procedures are being followed. Hand hygiene is recognized in Canada and internationally as a top patient safety priority measure in preventing the spread of infections, and auditing is a key component in ensuring observance of hand hygiene policies.

Strike Vote for CUPE Local 1356 - posting #3 - Final

The resounding vote of 99.6% in favour of Strike Action should it be necessary is quite impressive considering that it was at the third meeting of the Local in three weeks and further at a meeting conducted at 8:00 PM of a Sunday with a huge turnout!

Management is Circulating a Junk Flyer

The University is circulating a document to the members claiming 'Bad Faith Bargaining' and false info of other sorts.

Facebook Support Group

Join in on the Facebook group.

CUPE Local 3903 Strike Vote

Teaching assistants and contract instructors at York University have voted 86 per cent in favour of giving their union a strike mandate.

The instructors say they are being asked to teach more than double the amount of classes as regular professors, and that they don't know which classes they will teach each semester until one month before the school starts. They are asking for better job security.

The teaching assistants, graduate students who help professors with marking and sometimes teach classes, are asking for better pay.

The strike mandate doesn't mean instructors and teaching assistants will necessarily go on strike, but it gives the union the ability to walk off the job with 72 hours' notice if they are unable to negotiate a better deal with the school.

quoted from The Star

1356 Strike Vote

Strike Vote at 109 Accolade Building West 8:00 PM Sunday 26 October 2008

Management is Demanding Major Concessions

Personal Safety on York University Campus Survey

Over the next several months, METRAC will be conducting a safety audit of York University and its satellite locations. METRAC holds the principle that if a space is made safer for the most vulnerable of its users, then the space is made safer for everyone.

In order to get a sense of your experiences and understandings of safety at York University, METRAC wants to hear from all campus users – that’s you! Everyone has an important voice in this safety audit process. We invite you to participate in our research by completing the survey below. While responding to our questions, please respond in the context of York University and the campus spaces that you frequent; please keep your personal safety, as well as the physical safety of an area, in mind; and please feel free to mention whatever on campus safety concerns you may have.

The survey should take approximately 20-30 minutes to complete.

Disclaimer: Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and confidential. You are free to withdraw from the research at any time, and to withdraw data pertaining to yourself, without penalty. The information collected in this survey is also confidential and anonymous. The information gathered will be accessed by METRAC alone and is for the sole purpose of the York University Safety Audit, and for no other purpose. Information provided by you in this survey will be recorded and stored electronically.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/yorksafetyaudit

We should have a large group fill-in this survey to assist in highlighting issues we feel or have.

No Board Report filed for by the University

The University has filed for a "No Board Report" which can allow the University to cause a "Lock Out".

If the University forces a vote on their proposed Collective Agreement we would request that it be voted - AGAINST or NO.

If the Union puts forward a vote on a Collective Agreement we ask that the members listen to the meeting arguments for and against and vote their conscience.

Check the Negotiation Blog for further information as it becomes available.

New Blog on Negotiations

To keep the focus of Negotiations in one place and to allow the greater capability of comments this topic was moved onto its own blog.

Emergency Membership Meeting

Watch your notice boards and emails for information on the location.

Meeting to be held on Thanksgiving Day Monday 13 October 2008 at about 2:00 pm

Topics:

• 1356 Negotiating Committee Update
  
• Strike Committee Report and Sign-up for Volunteers
  
• Selection of Picket Captains