Vol. CXXXV, No. 2
University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
8 September, 2014
Behind Bedroom Doors Inside the personal spaces of young adults in Toronto Features, pg. 12
University, union extend deadline in contract negotiations United Steelworkers Local 1998 represents about 7,000 university staff Salvatore Basilone and Amitpal Singh VARSITY CONTRIBUTORS
University administration and the United Steelworkers (usw) Local 1998, which represents about 7,000 U of T staff, are working to reach a deal on a new employee compensation agreement before Monday, September 15 at 12:01 am. The new deal will replace the previous employee compensation agreement signed in 2011. If no deal is reached, there is the possibility of a strike or lockout, but neither party has announced plans for such measures at this point. Last Friday, September 5, the strike deadline was extended from Monday, September 8 to September 15.
“The [last] collective agreement expired June 30. The Labour Relations Act allows the previous agreement to remain in force until you get to a legal strike and lockout position,” said Stuart Deans, Toronto area coordinator for usw Local 1998. “If we are at 12:01 am and are making good progress; if we can see that we just need a few more hours or even a day to do it, we’ll extend that deadline on mutual agreement of the parties to get the thing done. But, if we are far apart and there is no chance that we can bridge that gap, then likely what that will lead to is a labour dispute and all of the facets that go with that,” Deans added. Althea Blackburn-Evans, U of T director of news and media relations, said that university
administration is doing all it can to reach an agreement that responds to the needs of both parties. “The university continues to negotiate in good faith with usw with the goal of reaching a renewed collective agreement that is responsive to employee interests and is also responsible in light of the ongoing financial constraints within which the university operates,” she said. Blackburn-Evans’s sentiment was echoed by Deans. “Everybody goes into this process with the view of getting a deal that is both fair and responsible, and that is for both sides,” Deans said, adding: “If we had the power to bargain everything we want all of the time, there would be a tipping point as to whether or not there is an institution left at the end of the day. So
there is recognition that both parties have to be responsible.”
“AUSTERE PROPOSALS” Details of the negotiations have not been released. However, usw economist Erin Weir accused the university of “making very austere proposals to our union, advocating a wage freeze.” “Of course, that is sometimes the nature of bargaining: the administration will come in with a very extreme proposal and then we’ll negotiate from there. But certainly their starting point seems very draconian given the very positive state of the university’s finances,” Weir added.
CONTINUED ON PG.8
INSIDE Comment
Arts
Is frosh necessary?
The Varsity goes to TIFF
Students weigh in on the merits of orientation
Reviews from the first films of the festival
Science Students develop apps and tools
Sports Blues baseball honours late alumnus
From creating online classrooms to timetable generators, computer science students do it all
Team pays tribute to Michael Tambureno in Ice Bucket Challenge