[Fdu] York FT faculty urgent message to York Senate

Tue Mar 10 18:15:40 EDT 2015

#CUPE3903: 145 York fulltime faculty sign urgent message to Senate Executive

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OPEN MESSAGE TO SENATE EXECUTIVE:

Dear members of Senate Executive,

We the undersigned are writing with extreme concern regarding the possibility that Senate Executive will decide today to resume classes taught by YUFA and CUPE2 faculty while the strike of CUPE1 and CUPE3 continues.

We urge you not to allow this to happen, and to continue the full suspension of classes until there is a settlement with Units 1 and 3 and a back to work protocol. We would like to see this settlement made quickly, efficiently, and fairly.

An immediate return to classes would introduce significant hazards and distress for all members of the university. Recall the chaos that ensued in our university in the context of a similar situation in 2000-01. At that time CUPE went on strike and Senate Executive decided to continue classes with instructors who were not in strike. A situation of enormous complexity and distress ensued for everyone involved, but particularly for students:

--Some YUFA instructors went back to teaching while many others did not. Similarly, immediate resumption of classes during the current strike would mean that some CUPE2 instructors would go back to teach while others would refuse to cross picket lines. This will lead to serious complications with the management of the academic term. When will the academic term end and the next one commence? According to which timetables? How do faculty and students manage two simultaneous term calendars: one for instructors teaching, the second for those not crossing the picket lines and Unit 1 CDs? What's the impact on students having to deal with courses running on different calendars? 

--Even in classes where instructors go back to teach, students are protected by Senate policy from repercussions if they choose not to cross picket lines. So instructors will be having two sets of students in their courses, those who came back to class and those who did not. How will the added workload necessary for dealing with this situation be handled? Can YUFA instructors be forced to deal with the added workload, and will CUPE2 instructors be paid for the added workload? Remember, instructors who return to class will then need to deal with the students who return only when the strike ends, effectively extending the term and/or increasing workload for them.

--What will happen to classes with graders, TAs, tutorials, and so on? Are YUFA and CUPE2 course directors going to be forced to take on all these tasks, even when it is not physically feasible, as in large classes? Will the courses proceed without assignments, tutorials, examinations graded by TAs, etc, and what are the implications? What happens if these course directors do not agree to take on these tasks, as I foresee will happen with many colleagues?

--Transportation chaos and extreme safety concerns: All public transportation will continue to avoid entering campus. With thousands of faculty and students being dropped outside the perimeter, we are going to see many problems and, alarmingly, severe issues of safety, particularly for classes after dark. Can you imagine hundreds of people walking at 10 pm to the perimeter of campus and waiting there for the buses? This, by itself, is good reason not to restart classes.

--Extremely dangerous picket lines: We witnessed with horror the event that happened at Shoreham Drive this week. If classes restart, many thousands of cars and pedestrians will be crossing the picket lines. Moreover, strikers may decide to extend their picket line hours until the evening, given there will be evening classes. It is not difficult to see that this situation invites dangerous events and very serious safety issues.

--Divisiveness and conflict in our campus: Is there a context that invites conflict and divisiveness more than one in which one set of course directors (both YUFA and CUPE2) goes back to classes while others do not, and where some students are crossing picket lines while others do not. During this strike, we have so far upheld a sense of respect and civility towards others; even here, conflict and injury have arisen. It is not difficult to foresee changes for the worse in the event of an immediate return to classes.

Dear members of Senate Executive, for these and many other reasons, we urge you to maintain a full suspension of classes until all units of CUPE settle.

Respectfully signed,

[signatories as of 2:00 pm, 10 March 2015)

Teresa Abbruzzese
Joan Allen
Sabah Alnasseri
Aimé Avolonto
Harjeet Badwall
Ranu Basu
Silvya Bawa
Dawn Bazely
Shannon Bell
Jody Berland
Georges Bérubé 
Ulrich Best
Kathy Bischoping
Philippe Bourdin
Rob Bowma
Deborah Brock
Mora Campbel
David Cecchetto
Chris Chapman
Rosemary Coombe
Marc Coroux
Natalie Coulter
Alison Crosby
Peter E. Cumming
Elizabeth Dauphinee
Megan Davies
Gene Desfor
Susan Driver
Liisa Duncan
John Dupuis
Secil Erdogan
Barbara Evans
Geoffrey Ewen
Honor Ford-Smith
Liette Gilbert
Amanda Glasbeek
Mary Goiton
Luin Goldring
Allan Greenbaum
Ricardo Grinspun
Shubhra Gururani
Ratiba Hadj-Moussa
Eve Haque
Jinthana Haritaworn
Barbara Heron
Teresa Holmes
Asher Horowitz
Susan Ingram
Stanley Jeffers
Cameron Johnston
Jan Kainer
Ilan Kapoor
Peggy Keall
J. Keeping
Roger Keil
Kamala Kempadoo
Gerald Kernerman
Sean Kheraj
Janice Kim
Stefan Kipfer
Ruth Koleszar-Green
Ildiko Kovacs
Christina Kraenzie
Fuyuki Kurasawa
Lawrence Lam
Geoff Lawrence
Timothy Leduc
Becky Lee
Maria Liegghio
Carla Lipsig-Mumme
Rodney Loeppky
Brenda Longfellow
Marcia Macaulay
Teresa Macias
Heather MacRae
Sarah Maiter
Alina Marquez
Jocelyn Martel
Atsuko Matsuoka
John B. Mayberry
Carlota McAllister
John McCullough
Gillian McGillivray
Wendy McKeen
Arthur McLuhan
David McNab
David McNally
Merouan Mekouar
Jacinthe Michaud
Haideh Moghissi
Georges Monette
Radhika Mongia
Esteve Morera
Georges Moyal
Arun Mukherjee
Carmella Murdocca
Marcello Musto
Eric Mykhalovskiy
Michael Nijhawan
Anne O'Connell
Deborah Orr
Laurence Packer
Mark Peacock
Linda Peake
Nalini Persram
Kelly Pike
Carolyn Podruchny
Justin Podur
Anna Pratt
Norene Pupo
Indhu Rajagopal
Darryl Reed
Markus Reisenleitner
Sylvie Rosienski-Pellerin
Stephanie Ross
Robin Roth
Don Rubin
L. Anders Sandberg
Sonya Scott
Victor Shea
Bruce Smardon
Penni Stewart
Martha Stiegman
Saskia Stille
David Szablowski
Yvette Szmidt
Patrick Taylor
Matthew Tegelberg
Mark Thomas
Dorin Uritescu
Peter Vandergeest
Gail Vanstone
Jim Vernon
Colleen Wagner
Andy Weaver
Gerda Wekerle
Walter Whiteley
David Wiesenthal
Ted Winslow
Renita Wong
Leslie Wood
Douglas Young
Lelia Young
Anna Zalik
Michael Zryd

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