Article Circulated in The Globe Mail - Please Read
This was also posted to the CUPE Bog - Revealing Article - Everyone please take the time to read. Note the highlighted text.

I am pleased that finally the democratic opportunity to vote on the present contract is being offered to all members of CUPE 3906 and that full knowledge of meeting / vote time, date and place is being well publicized. This is the correct process.
Below is a article published Tuesday November 3rd of this week in the Globe and Mail. It certainly is thought provoking.


Elizabeth Church
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 8:33PM EST Last updated on Thursday, Nov. 05, 2009 2:23AM EST
The union local that shut down York University in one of the longest strikes in Canadian campus history has been taken over by the national executive because of “serious financial issues,” including a ballooning debt pegged at more than $1-million and a failure to keep adequate records.
The York local, which represents 3,300 contract faculty and teaching and research assistants, was placed under the administration of the national wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees last week at the request of the local’s executive. A forensic audit is planned, as well as an investigation into charges of intimidation and harassment of local members.
The move comes as campuses across the country brace for what is shaping up to be a period of labour unease as universities look to cut costs in response to growing deficits. Teaching assistants at Hamilton’s McMaster University went on strike this week, and contract faculty at the University of Toronto will be in a strike position on Monday.
In Ontario, the York contract has long been seen as a benchmark for other campus negotiations. A failure by the local to get its financial house in order before its next round of bargaining in less than two years could weaken that position. Problems at the local also come as CUPE is hoping to increase its clout at the bargaining table by co-ordinating campus contracts. There are now 27 CUPE locals on Ontario campuses with contracts up for negotiations in 2010.
The troubles at the York local follow a bitter three-month strike that threatened the school year of more than 50,000 students before it was ended by the province in February with back-to-work legislation. A new local executive was voted into office after that dispute and soon discovered problems with the local’s accounting practices, including its strike records and receipts for expenses, according to an internal e-mail obtained by The Globe and Mail.
Last week that executive group voted to ask the national wing of the union to step in.
Lynn McDougall, appointed by the national union as administrator of the local, said the financial difficulties stem, in part, from the lengthy strike, but also involve “financial practices.”
“There are very serious financial issues,” she said in an interview yesterday. “There has been a great deal of speculation and certainly there is documentation that is lacking in several areas.”
Ms. McDougall said she also has received several reports of harassment and intimidation from local members since taking her post last week and will be examining those concerns.
A group of union members opposed to the move by the national union are attempting to take back control of the local.
Ms. McDougall said the national wing must get approval from the labour board to keep the local under administration for more than one year. “Administration in our minds is a very serious move and it takes very serious reasons for an executive to contemplate requesting it and for national to do it,” she said.
Ms. McDougall did not rule out the potential of wrongdoing, saying anything is possible, but that the audit will answer that question.
Maggie - November 5, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Originally Posted by JMerolli

1. No one said we are at the same levels preression, but its generally accepted that the free-fall is over and slow recovery has begun.

2. the offer isn't 40 an hour. The raise is also over 2 years.

3. If you fired us all, you'd have to find replacements. As much as you might loathe TA's (and I understand, I was once an undergrad), we are actually highly skilled workers. We are not easily replaceable.

4a. Compared to other TA contracts, our wage is not out of wack. I know it seems like a lot, but keep in mind this money is also aimed to help fund our original research. This is a crucial point. The TA wage is part of our funding package which is used to support us so we can complete our degrees but also produce work, which benefits the University.

4b. we only work 260 hours per year on this contract and if we are caught working outside the University while TAing or more than 10 hours a week EVER, we could loose our scholarships from the University.

5. We aren't the one's acting like 5 years old. I could point fingers and respond that the University was the one who didn't show up to bargaining meetings before the strike and when they did showed up late and empty handed. But instead, I will say that, we are a union and we are taking the last possible stance available to us to force the University to bargain. This is a crucial political right that people died for in the past. It sad to me that our generation no longer see the important strategic value in strike action. It is our one weapon against employers to ensure we are protected. It should be celebrated.

1. Coming from someone who has worked in the investment banking industry for several years I'm going to have to disagree with you here. We are not at the same levels compared to the summer of 2008, and the recession is not over. I hope you don't have to much of your money invested because if you do your going to be needing another raise soon, and thankfully I won't be here to wait in traffic while its negotiated.

2. Even at $36/hr your still making $26.50/hr more then let's say me and you're working on campus. Try commuting between Hamilton, Mississauga, and Toronto and let me know what your transportation costs are like. Factor in food, rent, and other living expenses and let me know how you would plan to live off $9.50 an hour while completing a double major, in honours no less. Maybe I should start picketing for my own cause? The poor student who needs a job paying more then minimum wage that no one will give me? I'm open to ideas.

3. I said fire the protestors. Most of the TAs are good people that I actually speak to and have been friends with quite regularly. I feel bad for them. Most of my TAs I actually really like as I have in the past and off the record most of them are against the strike anyway.

4. Wait a second you have a scholarship too???? Your tuition is partially covered AND your making that much???? What happened the red carpet is a bit frayed and your crown needs polishing?

5. Pretty sure whining and complaining is what a five year old does. Also I don't want to hear the pointing fingures info. I'd rather take a bath in a tub full of scissors. All I'm going to say about that is im pretty sure the union rejected the offer without letting the TAs even have a say so I think that speaks for itself and thats as far as im going to go with it because I'm out of advil and I feel like by dealing with some of the technicalities im losing brain cells trying to comprehend the problem and why I should have to wait 45 minutes every day to park my car. Oh also can I be re-imbursed by the union for the fuel that I've burnt? Today I burned 2.4L while waiting and my car only uses premium (amazing for someone who makes minimum wage eh?) so at $1.14/L thats $2.74/day. That's over $13 a week! For us poor students thats almost 1.5 hours of work!!!

Originally Posted by spyder83

1. Coming from someone who has worked in the investment banking industry for several years I'm going to have to disagree with you here. We are not at the same levels compared to the summer of 2008, and the recession is not over. I hope you don't have to much of your money invested because if you do your going to be needing another raise soon, and thankfully I won't be here to wait in traffic while its negotiated.

2. Even at $36/hr your still making $26.50/hr more then let's say me and you're working on campus. Try commuting between Hamilton, Mississauga, and Toronto and let me know what your transportation costs are like. Factor in food, rent, and other living expenses and let me know how you would plan to live off $9.50 an hour while completing a double major, in honours no less. Maybe I should start picketing for my own cause? The poor student who needs a job paying more then minimum wage that no one will give me? I'm open to ideas.

3. I said fire the protestors. Most of the TAs are good people that I actually speak to and have been friends with quite regularly. I feel bad for them. Most of my TAs I actually really like as I have in the past and off the record most of them are against the strike anyway.

4. Wait a second you have a scholarship too???? Your tuition is partially covered AND your making that much???? What happened the red carpet is a bit frayed and your crown needs polishing?

5. Pretty sure whining and complaining is what a five year old does. Also I don't want to hear the pointing fingures info. I'd rather take a bath in a tub full of scissors. All I'm going to say about that is im pretty sure the union rejected the offer without letting the TAs even have a say so I think that speaks for itself and thats as far as im going to go with it because I'm out of advil and I feel like by dealing with some of the technicalities im losing brain cells trying to comprehend the problem and why I should have to wait 45 minutes every day to park my car. Oh also can I be re-imbursed by the union for the fuel that I've burnt? Today I burned 2.4L while waiting and my car only uses premium (amazing for someone who makes minimum wage eh?) so at $1.14/L thats $2.74/day. That's over $13 a week! For us poor students thats almost 1.5 hours of work!!!

13 bucks buys me a week worth of food!

I guess every thread with anything to do about the strike is going to turn this way, regardless of the subject...

Originally Posted by micadjems

I guess every thread with anything to do about the strike is going to turn this way, regardless of the subject...

sorry jackie...telling a commerce student the recession is over is asking for a response...its like saying pi equals exactly 3

Originally Posted by spyder83

1. Coming from someone who has worked in the investment banking industry for several years I'm going to have to disagree with you here. We are not at the same levels compared to the summer of 2008, and the recession is not over. I hope you don't have to much of your money invested because if you do your going to be needing another raise soon, and thankfully I won't be here to wait in traffic while its negotiated.

You've worked in the investment banking industry for several years?

Originally Posted by Taunton

I thought people might be interested:

I recieved a text message today from a TA who is trying to get other striking TA's and other interested people to march down Sterling to protest the protests against the protest (say that five-times-fast).

An interesting quote from the text: "we'll show that the engineers have no brains".

I don't get this... It's not just engineers not enjoying the strike, though some of us were the ones who decided to do something and show the public how we felt. Perhaps everyone else likes to use us as punching bags because we're somewhat successful?

Originally Posted by PTGregD

You've worked in the investment banking industry for several years?

well several = 2 but yes i have.

Originally Posted by spyder83

2. Even at $36/hr your still making $26.50/hr more then let's say me and you're working on campus.

3. I said fire the protestors. Most of the TAs are good people that I actually speak to and have been friends with quite regularly. I feel bad for them. Most of my TAs I actually really like as I have in the past and off the record most of them are against the strike anyway.

4. Wait a second you have a scholarship too???? Your tuition is partially covered AND your making that much???? What happened the red carpet is a bit frayed and your crown needs polishing?

5. All I'm going to say about that is im pretty sure the union rejected the offer without letting the TAs even have a say...
.... Today I burned 2.4L while waiting and my car only uses premium (amazing for someone who makes minimum wage eh?) so at $1.14/L thats $2.74/day. That's over $13 a week! For us poor students thats almost 1.5 hours of work!!!

Just responding to some of your points above:

2. The contracted work for TA/RA work is at a maximum of 10 hour a week, so the spirit of the seemly high hourly rate is to make the overall income of a student bearable to live on. Although, the main bulk of the dispute is not about the wages. (In fact the union or perhaps the union members have proposed a wage freeze. Just bringing this up to demonstrate that this is not what the main point of dispute is about.)

3. Thank you for your comments about TAs. I am one, and I do enjoy the work and find teaching the students rewarding. Many of my former students are now friends with me, and some of of them still come to me to ask for help with their current school work. I'd like to point out though, majority of the people picketing did not want the strike to happen, and it is unfortunate it's come to it. But, a lot of them are out there because they have seen how hard the union bargaining team had worked and do not feel right "continue-to-work" (lest I say the s-word), so their only other option to be able to make rent and afford food IS to picket. (In other words, they have to choose between being paid by Mac or receiving strike pay from the union.) Despite the frustration the picket had caused, if you approach the picketers (and crub the frustration and hatred for the time being), you'll find that they're decent people that didn't want the strike to happen more than you did.

4. lmfao.

5a. The union did try to capture the member's voice about the contract. Between the employer walking away and the strike deadline, they had 36 hours to call a meeting that requires a 24 hour notice. The turn out was significant but not great, and the thing with a democratic process is the decisions are decided by the voters that did turn out to vote. With a ratification vote coming up, a more convincing result will push the progress forward one way or another.

5b. Just a tip, to start a 4-cyl car takes about the same amount of gas as 15 seconds of idling. 6-cylinder car, 10 seconds. It might be awkward with the stop-and-go in the queue, but shutting the engine off when you can might be an option.

Originally Posted by spyder83

well several = 2 but yes i have.

Um, at what shop? It's just that you don't see many (read: any) geography majors working in Investment banking unless you're working for the smallest of boutiques.

Originally Posted by Eugene

Just responding to some of your points above:

2. The contracted work for TA/RA work is at a maximum of 10 hour a week, so the spirit of the seemly high hourly rate is to make the overall income of a student bearable to live on. Although, the main bulk of the dispute is not about the wages. (In face the union or perhaps the union members have proposed a wage freeze. Just bringing this up to demonstrate that this is not what the main point of dispute is about.)

3. Thank you for your comments about TAs. I am one, and I do enjoy the work and find teaching the students rewarding. Many of my former students are now friends with me, and some of of them still come to me to ask for school help with their current school work. I'd like to point out though, majority of the people picketing did not want the strike to happen, and it is unfortunate it's come to it. But, a lot of them are out there because they have seen how hard the union bargaining team had worked and do not feel right "continue-to-work" (lest I say the s-word), so their only other option to be able to make rent and afford food IS to picket. Despite the frustration the picket had caused, if you approach the picketers (and crub the frustration and hate for the time being), you'll find that they're decent people too.

4. lmfao.

5a. The union did try to capture the member's voice about the contract. Between the employer walking away and the strike deadline, they had 36 hours to call a meeting that requires a 24 hour notice. The turn out was significant but not great, and the thing with a democratic process is the decisions are decided by the voters that did turn out to vote. With a ratification vote coming up, a more convincing result will push the progress forward one way or another.

5b. Just a tip, to start a 4-cyl car takes about the same amount of gas as 15 seconds of idling. 6-cylinder car, 10 seconds. It might be awkward with the stop-and-go in the queue, but shutting the engine off when you can might be an option.

Thanks for throwing some points out there. To continue my procrastination I shall respond:

1. I'm going to assume you agree and for that I thank you.

2. Good point indeed, however as I mentioned earlier $40/hr * 10 hours a week is $1,600/month. This means that as a student earning minimum wage I have to work over 42 hours a week to make the same amount which to me simply doesnt make sense. If I was making that much I just simply would not be complaining especially seeing so many people I know not being able to find emlpoyment (see point #1).

3. I completely agree with you on this point as I earlier mentioned and I'm one of those people thats been in constant contact with many of my TAs. I understand the position a lot of them are in which is why its the main organizers and people forcing the strike that I take issue with, along with those who support it.

4.)

5.) Like I said I don't know everything about it but thats good to know. As for 5b when your hobby is building cars, performance = fuel consumption. I wish I could afford another car for driving every day but I can't. Shutting it off is also an option but it's kind of cold outside and turning my car on and off multiple times in a short period is increasing my chances of killing the fuel pump, electrical system, and probably about 37 other things I can't think of. I just want to cruise into the parking lot without flashbacks of Manhattan.

Originally Posted by PTGregD

Um, at what shop? It's just that you don't see many (read: any) geography majors working in Investment banking unless you're working for the smallest of boutiques.

Geog and Commerce. You can msg me for more details but I was an IB analyst and then I switched over to the research side

if these idiots on strike dont like their job, they should leave and get something better. people would love to take their place i hate the picketing lines and unneccessary traffic and all that bullshit. get a life guys. do us all a favour and etiher cont wiht ur job or just find another one. dont RUIN MY DAY

Originally Posted by spyder83

1. Coming from someone who has worked in the investment banking industry for several years I'm going to have to disagree with you here. We are not at the same levels compared to the summer of 2008, and the recession is not over. I hope you don't have to much of your money invested because if you do your going to be needing another raise soon, and thankfully I won't be here to wait in traffic while its negotiated.

2. Even at $36/hr your still making $26.50/hr more then let's say me and you're working on campus. Try commuting between Hamilton, Mississauga, and Toronto and let me know what your transportation costs are like. Factor in food, rent, and other living expenses and let me know how you would plan to live off $9.50 an hour while completing a double major, in honours no less. Maybe I should start picketing for my own cause? The poor student who needs a job paying more then minimum wage that no one will give me? I'm open to ideas.

3. I said fire the protestors. Most of the TAs are good people that I actually speak to and have been friends with quite regularly. I feel bad for them. Most of my TAs I actually really like as I have in the past and off the record most of them are against the strike anyway.

4. Wait a second you have a scholarship too???? Your tuition is partially covered AND your making that much???? What happened the red carpet is a bit frayed and your crown needs polishing?

5. Pretty sure whining and complaining is what a five year old does. Also I don't want to hear the pointing fingures info. I'd rather take a bath in a tub full of scissors. All I'm going to say about that is im pretty sure the union rejected the offer without letting the TAs even have a say so I think that speaks for itself and thats as far as im going to go with it because I'm out of advil and I feel like by dealing with some of the technicalities im losing brain cells trying to comprehend the problem and why I should have to wait 45 minutes every day to park my car. Oh also can I be re-imbursed by the union for the fuel that I've burnt? Today I burned 2.4L while waiting and my car only uses premium (amazing for someone who makes minimum wage eh?) so at $1.14/L thats $2.74/day. That's over $13 a week! For us poor students thats almost 1.5 hours of work!!!

1. I guess we don't read the same papers or watch the same news

2. I encourage people in the service sector to unionize. Its an important way for us to force employers to pay fair wages. Its not ok, in my opinion, in any work place, when high level administrators and managers, are not taking any concessions for decisions they made, while requiring front line workers to bear the brunt of their mistakes. Let be make clear, the contract that they are offering is forcing concessions on us.

3. There are still substantial amounts of strikers. Let me tell you the Poli Sci department would be scrambling. Also, I think many of my students would agree, I am a good TA. I can show you my course reviews. I know people who have won awards that are striking. We love our work and students but we also need to protect ourselves.

4. I can't stress enough that we are researchers not just students. Did you know that I paided almost 6500 dollars in tuition and I am not taking a single class. Next year, when i'll be away on field research and not using any university resources, I will still have to pay tuition. In my 5th year, I will even lose my office (which I share with 4 people) and will still have to pay tuition which by the current rate will be almost 8 thousand a year. Our funding package is crucial to our ability to produce original research. My main point is comparing graduate studies with undergrad is comparing apples and oranges.

5. Public Transit or Parking is free around longwood, which is an easy walking distance. If you need tips on free places to park around campus, I actually know all the streets that have all day parking. I can't afford to park on campus, so I am a pro at free parking! I have also encouraged people to turn off their cars while waiting but because we are moving cars much more quickly then the protocol allows us to, most people don't.

BUT maybe we should just agree to disagree, as this is the thread for protesting the protest (although calling it a protest is a bit of a misnomer). I only posted the first time, to ask that people abide by the student code of conduct. I dont really feel like our conversation is constructive. But again, I ask for your own sake and that of the picketers, to try to be respectful or at least indifferent at the lines. That will keep everyone safe!

Engineers have no brains? hahaha no they are just jerks. I love how these ridiculous stereotypes permeate everything. If you make fun of an engineer we wont cry because we waste all of our tears crying over our homework.

TAs are lucky, they have a nice jobs that pay money. I have had to join the Canadian Forces to be able to pay for my education. Really puts things into perspective when they are striking for childcare/wages/ect.., where as I could easily have to pay for my education with my life. Hopefully I wont run into an IED or be captured and murdered on video to make a useless point for some fanatical person. I realize I did "have to" join, but no where else would hire me. That is another story though, but still, kinda puts things into perspective.

Back on topic though, I think MacInsiders should make Micadjems an administrator of some sorts and allow her to have access to a thread only she can post in so we can all be updated of times without having to scroll through pages of discussion to find things out. It should be stickied to the top of the forum too. Sorry for thrusting that responsibility on you.

Even though I want to protest the protest, I still kinda want to buy some timbits for the protesters.

I hope everyone is growing their November moustache. I look ridiculous.