Vol. CXXXV, No. 17
2 Feburary, 2015
The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
University forecasts $194.4 million net income
Strike looms Significant issues remain between union and university as strike deadline approaches Salvatore Basilone ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
On February 27, University of Toronto students could arrive to a school on strike, with picket lines dotting the campus, and all tutorials and about half of lectures cancelled. A strike will be a reality if the university and the union representing some 7,000 teaching assistants, sessional lecturers, and other academic staff are unable to come to a deal on a new collective bargaining agreement — a prospect that seems increasingly likely according to union negotiators. “There is a widespread feeling that we are not where we need to be in order to realistically get a contract, and there isn’t a plausible way to see getting there given the time, and given how much the employer has dragged its feet, and given how few dates we have left,” says Ryan Culpepper, chief negotiator for cupe 3902 Unit 1, which has approximately 6,000 members, made up of mostly teaching assis-
tants, but also including a number of other student academic staff. Unit 1 members voted in favour of a strike mandate in November 2014. “It is not going well,” Culpepper says in reference to the negotiations. Erin Black, co-chief negotiator for Unit 3, which represents sessional lecturers and other non-student academic staff, and chair of the union local, echoes this sentiment. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I do wonder logistically how that can be done in only three bargaining days because we have a number of things that are still outstanding,” says Black. “In terms of content of an agreement that would be acceptable to our membership, that is going to be also challenging to achieve.” The results of a strike vote for Unit 3 were announced on January 27, with 92.1 per cent in favour of striking if no agreement is in place after the February 26 deadline.
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Tamim Mansour ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR
The University of Toronto is forecast to have a net income of $194.4 million for the 2014–2015 fiscal year, university administration said during last week’s Business Board meeting. The prediction is based on projections from revenues and expenditures from the university’s operating, ancillary, capital, and restricted funds. It also takes into account the net assets from the beginning to the end of the year, as well as a remeasurement of the pension benefits. The projection assumes a 7.3 per cent return on the university’s investments. However, even if the return were to be only 3.0 per cent, the university would still expect a net income of $174.2 million. When asked by the board about the need for the remeasurement of pension benefits, which cost $277 million, Sheila Brown, the university’s chief financial officer, cited longer Canadian life expectancy as the reason to
account for these changes in benefits. “In the case of Canada, studies have been done and found out that we are living longer than we used to and in many cases, longer than we were predicted by actuaries to live,” Brown says, adding, “So a lot of changes have to be made to the longevity assumptions.” Brown also mentioned that employees in the public sector are estimated to live longer than employees in the private sector. Last year’s operating fund deficit of $14.5 million is expected to drop to $5.7 million. According to the report, the university’s operating fund had been budgeted to be balanced by the end of this fiscal year. However, the university has received $11.4 million less in government grants than expected.
DEBT STRATEGY
A review of the university’s debt also shows that the university’s current debt
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INSIDE Comment
Features
The quarter-life crisis
Inside Harvest Noon
Arts&Culture Locking it down
Science Scientific standpoint
Sports Kesteris heads abroad with Team Canada
The “real word” is a scary place to today’s grads
Student-run café offers locally sourced fare
Exploring the growing trend of Escape Rooms in Toronto
Two students offer their perspectives on voluntourism
Blues goaltender to represent Canada in winter Universiade
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