CUPE 3902
Encyclopedia
CUPE 3902 is a labour union local representing sessional lecturers
and teaching assistants (TAs) at the University of Toronto
, Canada
.
to receive certification by a Labour Relations Board in North America
. Prior to the certification by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
in 1973, graduate employees in Canada had no representation in negotiating the terms and conditions of work. As of 2006, most graduate employees in English Canada have been organized. The graduate employee movement represents the largest change in workplace relations at universities in the 20th century.
Prior to certification, there were some 444 pay categories for TAs at the University of Toronto. Members could be fired without cause, and had no avenue for appeal. Hiring was, in many cases, an exercise in patronage.
The drive for a Union first met with success at Victoria College
. The TAs at Victoria were granted a certificate as Local One, Graduate Assistants’ Association (GAA). Since the Arts Departments were transferred from the Colleges to the University in 1974, the Victoria unit ceased to have any employees. As a result a Collective Agreement was never entered into and representation rights lapsed. At the same time, the centre of energy shifted to the main U of T campus. Local One were certified, as Local Two, GAA, in 1975 after a long legal battle and a certification vote.
(now Local 3903 of CUPE) and Ryerson University
(3904). The National Union grew rapidly, if chaotically, in those early years, organizing TAs at Lakehead University
(3905), TAs and contract faculty at McMaster University
(3906), and graduate assistants at OISE
(3907). In 1980, the Union renamed itself the Canadian Union of Educational Workers (CUEW). CUEW eventually organized contract faculty at Trent University
(3908), TAs and student instructors at the University of Manitoba
(3909), contract faculty at the University of Ottawa
(which disaffiliated in 1992), and contract faculty at Athabasca University
(3911).
By the early 1990s, the National Union had grown to be the dominant union in its field—part-time academic employees in the post-secondary sector. New organizing drives were launched which yielded two more locals— Dalhousie University
(3912) and the University of Guelph
(3913). There were more demands from other TAs and sessional and part-time lecturers for organizing drives.
. The Local joined CUPE
1 January 1995 following a membership referendum authorizing the merger.
In 1989 the Local struck primarily over the issue of job security.
In 1991 the Local struck over the issue of overwork - establishing industry-standard rules governing overwork. This was the first time the University of Toronto locked out its teaching staff.
In January 2000, the Local engaged in a four-week strike/lockout centred on the issue of tuition fees. While the Local was unable to achieve tuition fee waivers or reductions, the actions at the bargaining table and on the picket lines created the political momentum for the major changes that began in 2001. The post-4 fee reduction was a GSU proposal from many years ago. The TA strike improved what the University of Toronto was willing to put in place. As a result of the strike, the University of Toronto introduced the first guaranteed graduate funding in Canada, guaranteed in the Collective Agreement.
Lecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
and teaching assistants (TAs) at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
History
CUPE 3902 is the first graduate employee unionGraduate student unionization
Graduate student employee unionization refers to labor unions that represent students who are employed by their college or university to teach classes, conduct research and perform clerical duties. As of 2007 there are 28 graduate student employee local unions in the United States. and 21 local...
to receive certification by a Labour Relations Board in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Prior to the certification by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
Ontario Labour Relations Board
The Ontario Labour Relations Board was established by the Ontario government in 1948. It defines itself as "an independent, quasi-judicial tribunal mandated to mediate and adjudicate a variety of employment and labour relations-related matters under a number of Ontario statutes"...
in 1973, graduate employees in Canada had no representation in negotiating the terms and conditions of work. As of 2006, most graduate employees in English Canada have been organized. The graduate employee movement represents the largest change in workplace relations at universities in the 20th century.
Organizing drive
In 1973, the University administration recommended a 6% salary increase for all academic staff except TAs. The Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) tried to get the University Administration to bargain with them, but the Administration refused. And so, on June 6, 1973 a group of 7 TAs met to form what became CUPE 3902. Together with a band of volunteers and with the financial support of the GSU, they organized to form a trade union, the first for student academic workers in Canada.Prior to certification, there were some 444 pay categories for TAs at the University of Toronto. Members could be fired without cause, and had no avenue for appeal. Hiring was, in many cases, an exercise in patronage.
The drive for a Union first met with success at Victoria College
Victoria University in the University of Toronto
Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
. The TAs at Victoria were granted a certificate as Local One, Graduate Assistants’ Association (GAA). Since the Arts Departments were transferred from the Colleges to the University in 1974, the Victoria unit ceased to have any employees. As a result a Collective Agreement was never entered into and representation rights lapsed. At the same time, the centre of energy shifted to the main U of T campus. Local One were certified, as Local Two, GAA, in 1975 after a long legal battle and a certification vote.
Negotiations begin
The first collective agreement (1975-1977) reduced the 444 pay categories to three. Hiring procedures were established and a grievance procedure was formulated to solve problems and to settle disputes and differences of opinion between TAs and course instructors and the Administration. The establishment of these norms respecting graduate student employment was a first in Canada.Growth of the national union
At the same time, TAs and sessional lecturers were organizing at York UniversityYork University
York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....
(now Local 3903 of CUPE) and Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
(3904). The National Union grew rapidly, if chaotically, in those early years, organizing TAs at Lakehead University
Lakehead University
Lakehead University is a public research university in Thunder Bay, and Orillia, Ontario, Canada.Lakehead University, shortened to 'Lakehead U', or 'LU', is non-denominational and provincially supported. It has undergraduate and graduate programs and a medical school.The school has more than 45,000...
(3905), TAs and contract faculty at McMaster University
McMaster University
McMaster University is a public research university whose main campus is located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land in the residential neighbourhood of Westdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens...
(3906), and graduate assistants at OISE
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto is a teachers' college in Toronto, Ontario.-History:OISE/UT traces its origins to the founding of the Provincial Normal School in 1847...
(3907). In 1980, the Union renamed itself the Canadian Union of Educational Workers (CUEW). CUEW eventually organized contract faculty at Trent University
Trent University
Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63. The University was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a...
(3908), TAs and student instructors at the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
(3909), contract faculty at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
(which disaffiliated in 1992), and contract faculty at Athabasca University
Athabasca University
Athabasca University is a Canadian university in Athabasca, Alberta. It is an accredited research institution which also offers distance education courses and programs. Courses are offered primarily in English with some French offerings. Each year, 32,000 students attend the university. It offers...
(3911).
By the early 1990s, the National Union had grown to be the dominant union in its field—part-time academic employees in the post-secondary sector. New organizing drives were launched which yielded two more locals— Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University
Dalhousie University is a public research university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The university comprises eleven faculties including Schulich School of Law and Dalhousie University Faculty of Medicine. It also includes the faculties of architecture, planning and engineering located at...
(3912) and the University of Guelph
University of Guelph
The University of Guelph, also known as U of G, is a comprehensive public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College, the Macdonald Institute, and the Ontario Veterinary College...
(3913). There were more demands from other TAs and sessional and part-time lecturers for organizing drives.
Merger with CUPE
However, the National Union had entered a financial and leadership crisis which resulted in merger discussions with CUPECanadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
. The Local joined CUPE
Canadian Union of Public Employees
The Canadian Union of Public Employees is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector - although it has in recent years organized workplaces in the non-profit and para-public sector as well...
1 January 1995 following a membership referendum authorizing the merger.
Strikes
CUPE 3902 has signed fifteen Collective Agreements for what is now Unit 1 with the U of T since it was organized. The local has engaged in three strikes in its history. Each of these received coverage in local and national press.In 1989 the Local struck primarily over the issue of job security.
In 1991 the Local struck over the issue of overwork - establishing industry-standard rules governing overwork. This was the first time the University of Toronto locked out its teaching staff.
In January 2000, the Local engaged in a four-week strike/lockout centred on the issue of tuition fees. While the Local was unable to achieve tuition fee waivers or reductions, the actions at the bargaining table and on the picket lines created the political momentum for the major changes that began in 2001. The post-4 fee reduction was a GSU proposal from many years ago. The TA strike improved what the University of Toronto was willing to put in place. As a result of the strike, the University of Toronto introduced the first guaranteed graduate funding in Canada, guaranteed in the Collective Agreement.
Expansion of the bargaining unit
Starting in 1997, the Union began to work with non-student instructional staff to join CUPE 3902. After two applications, and an extended process in front of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, sessionals finally certified in the summer of 2004 with nearly 90% in favour of joining. Just prior to the issuance of the sessionals’ certificate, the Union worked with contract instructional staff at Victoria University, successfully certifying in the summer of 2004 with only 2 votes cast against the Union. Both of these units negotiated a first contract in 2004-2005. The sessionals’ Agreement was ratified on 1 April, 2005, and the Victoria Agreement was ratified on 4 May, 2005. Contracts for both have been rengotiated once and are undergoing their next round of bargaining commencing the summer of 2009.See also
- Coalition of Graduate Employee UnionsCoalition of Graduate Employee UnionsThe Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions consists of unions representing graduate employees at universities in Canada and the United States...
- GESO - Graduate employee union at Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
- GSOCGraduate Student Organizing CommitteeThe Graduate Student Organizing Committee is a labor union representing graduate teaching and research assistants at New York University ....
- Graduate employee union at New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan... - GET-UP - Graduate employee union at the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
- Temple University Graduate Students AssociationTemple University Graduate Students AssociationThe Temple University Graduate Students Association is a graduate employee union at Temple University. The union won recognition on September 26, 2001 when the Temple board of trustees voted to recognize their union. The union ratified its first contract on May 18, 2002 and the Trustees voted to...
- CUPE 3911CUPE 3911CUPE 3911 is a labour union local representing tutors at Athabasca University, Canada.-History:In the Fall of 1983 the association was ratified by a mail-in ballot, and officers were elected for the Athabasca University Tutors’ Association...