Structure and governance
YUFA's elected officers comprise the president, two vice-presidents, two chief stewards, two equity officers, the communications officer, the treasurer, and the recording secretary. They and some others sit on the executive committee.
Recognized causes are the Disability Caucus, Indigenous Caucus, Indigenous Queer Caucus, Queer Caucus, and Race Equity Caucus.
YUFA staff are members of CUPE Local 1281. [14]
Strikes
YUFA has had two strikes. The first began on 8 October 1985, where the main issues were compensation and mandatory retirement. It ended after only two days.
The second began on 20 March 1997 and lasted fifty-five days, making it the longest academic strike in English Canada to that time. The main issues were compensation, workload and class sizes, equity, and the ability to work past the normal retirement age of 65, a right that York eliminated the year before. On 13 May the membership voted 75% in favour of a deal, and returned to work the next day. Some members with low retirement income would be able to work up to age 69, and the administration could name "distinguished" faculty who could work past 65. Within a few years this issue became moot, when mandatory retirement rules were eliminated in Ontario. Historian Michiel Horn says in his history York University: The Way Must Be Tried that the strike "created major problems for students and damaged York’s reputation."
There have been several other labour disruptions at York. In the 2018 York University strike it was CUPE 3093 (contract faculty, teaching assistants and graduate assistants) who were on strike, not YUFA, but it "caused tensions between on campus between the administration and CUPE 3903 and the York University Faculty Association."
York University, also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, and over 370,000 alumni worldwide. It has 11 faculties, including the Lassonde School of Engineering, Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School, Glendon College, and 28 research centres.
Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the Journal of Law and Social Policy, and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal. A variety of LL.M. and Ph.D. degrees in law are available.
Rick Bartolucci is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1995 to 2014. He represented the riding of Sudbury and was a cabinet minister in the government of Dalton McGuinty.
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. CUPE–SCFP is the largest union in Canada, representing some 700,000 workers in health care, education, municipalities, libraries, universities, social services, public utilities, transportation, emergency services and airlines. Over 60 per cent of CUPE–SCFP's members are women, and almost a third are part-time workers. CUPE–SCFP is affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress and is its greatest financial contributor.
Frances Lankin,, is a Canadian senator, former president and CEO of United Way Toronto, and a former Ontario MPP and cabinet minister in the NDP government of Bob Rae between 1990 and 1995. From 2010 to 2012, she co-chaired a government commission review of social assistance in Ontario. From 2009 to 2016, she was a member of the Security Intelligence Review Committee.
Samuel Lawrence was a Canadian politician and trade unionist. He was the first member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and subsequently served as Mayor of Hamilton, Ontario.
Donald "Don" Clarke Abel is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He was elected as an Ontario New Democratic Party MPP to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario representing the riding of Wentworth North from 1990 to 1995.
Claudio Polsinelli is a former politician in Ontario, Canada. He served in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as a Liberal from 1985 to 1990.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union is a trade union representing public sector employees in the province of Ontario, Canada. It claims a membership of approximately 180,000 members. OPSEU was established in 1975 as the successor union to the former Civil Service Association of Ontario, which was founded in 1911. In 1979, OPSEU affiliated with the Canadian Labour Congress, the National Union of Public and General Employees, and the Ontario Federation of Labour. OPSEU is affiliated to several labour councils across Ontario.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3902 is a Canadian labour union local representing sessional lecturers, postdoctoral researchers and teaching assistants (TAs) at the University of Toronto, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, the University of St. Michael's College and New College in the University of Toronto.
Judy Darcy is a Canadian health care advocate, trade unionist, and former politician. Darcy was the first Minister of Mental Health and Addictions of British Columbia. She was the fourth National President of the Canadian Union of Public Employees from 1991 until 2003, making her the second woman and second Jewish-Canadian person to hold the post, and business manager of the Hospital Employees' Union from 2005 to 2011.
The 2008–2009 York University strike was a strike by CUPE Local 3903, the union representing contract professors, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants at York University.
The Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel since 2006. Their stance has encountered opposition from the Canadian Jewish Congress and parts of the press but also widespread support from university professors, Independent Jewish Voices, Palestine House, Canadian Arab Federation and labour unions. In 2009 the CUPE Ontario university workers' committee proposed to extend the campaign to boycott any joint work with Israeli institutions that carry out military research. That resolution became the focus of extensive controversy and was modified in response to pressure from the CUPE national president; the amended version was brought before the CUPE Ontario conference in May 2009 and passed with a 2/3 majority.
Jeffrey "Jeff" Raymond Rose is a Canadian trade unionist and former public servant. He is national president emeritus of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, having served as national president of CUPE from 1983–1991, and was deputy minister of intergovernmental affairs for the government of Ontario from 1991 to 1995.
The 2009 City of Toronto inside and outside workers strike was a legal strike action that was undertaken by the Toronto Civic Employees Union Local 416 and CUPE Local 79, two locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees in the city of Toronto.
The California Faculty Association (CFA) is an American labor union that represents lecturers, professors, counselors, librarians and coaches from the 23 campuses of the California State University (CSU). It is the exclusive collective bargaining agent for all faculty in the CSU system. In 2022, their annual revenue was $18.1 million.
The Putting Students First Act is an act passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The law allows the provincial government to set rules that local school boards must adhere to when negotiating with local unions and to impose a collective agreement on the board, employee bargaining agent, and the employees of the board represented by the employee bargaining agent if negotiations are not completed by December 31, 2012. This bill also limits the legality of teachers' unions and support staff going on strike. In April 2016, the law was found to be unconstitutional.
Rhonda L. Lenton is a Canadian academic administrator and professor. She is the 8th and current president and vice-chancellor of York University in Toronto, Canada, having succeeded Mamdouh Shoukri on 1 July 2017 for a five-year term. She previously served as Dean of Atkinson College and later as York's Vice President Academic and Provost. Prior to her role in academic administration, Lenton was a Professor of Sociology. During her research career, Lenton led randomized public telephone surveys of social issues such as Internet dating and sexual assaults in Canada.
The 2018 York University strike was a strike by CUPE Local 3903, the union representing contract professors, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants at York University. At 143 days long it is the longest strike in the post-secondary sector in Canadian history, surpassing the previous record of the 1976 Laval University 108-day strike. It ended on July 25, when the Ontario Legislature passed the Urgent Priorities Act back-to-work legislation.
Stephen Francis Lecce is a Canadian politician who has served as the Ontario minister of education since June 20, 2019. A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) Party, Lecce is the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for King—Vaughan, representing the riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since his election in 2018. Before running for office, Lecce worked in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as the director of media relations during Stephen Harper's tenure.
