THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
November 5, 2024
Vol. CXLV, No. 8
Victoria University’s Attendance Awareness Program revoked amid union pressure USW Local 1998 argued the program caused employees to come to work sick
Rubin Beshi Business & Labour Editor
From July 1 to October 9, Victoria University implemented its Attendance Awareness Program (AAP), which applied to all members of the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1998 Victoria University bargaining unit. The unit’s members include food servers, cooks, and electricians. Victoria University is one of U of T’s three federated colleges — along with the University of Trinity College and the University of St. Michael’s College — that operate independently from U of T. Under the program, employees who are absent from work four or more times in a three month period will be entered into the program. The program has five stages — with the last stage resulting in the managers considering the employee’s termination. While the Program Policy & Manager Guide outlined that the program aimed to encourage employees to commit to regular attendance at work, it caused widespread concern among affected employees. Following a months-long campaign by the unit to cancel the program — arguing that it pressured sick employees to come to work — Victoria University’s management rescinded the AAP, after resetting the program’s start date to October 1. According to John Ankenman — president of both the USW Local 1998 and the Victoria University Unit — the college cited the union’s feedback as the reason for its decision to cancel. “This draconian program the [college] implemented really caused a great level of anxiety and stress for the employees,” he said in an interview with The Varsity.
“A streak of bad luck with people’s health” Ankenman explained that he believes the college created the program due to their concerns about employees “abusing” the sick leave provision 14.05 outlined in the union’s collective agreement. The provision requires supporting medical documentation from employees who are on sick leave for more than seven days. However, Ankenman mentioned that during a round of collective bargaining last year, the college pressed the union to change the collective agreement to require medical documentation for sick leave of any length, including for just one day. The union ultimately refused to budge on this. Following this bargaining round, the college decided to implement the AAP program. According to Ankenman, the AAP caused concern for the union because the program did not distinguish between employees taking advantage of the sick leave provision and those who had otherwise perfect attendance, but had circumstances requiring them to take extra days off. Ankenman noted that the program’s stage based structure meant that employees could be terminated in as little as a year and a half upon entering the program. “[That] could be just a streak of bad luck with people’s health,” he said. The guide states that employees were afforded flexibility under extenuating circumstances, provided these circumstances were communicated to their manager or human resources partner. The AAP applied only to members of the USW Local 1998 Victoria University bargaining unit and not to all employees of Victoria University. “The program was discriminatory against union
members based on their union membership,” Ankenman said. The campaign Upon receiving advance notice of the AAP in March, the unit immediately began efforts to combat the program. They argued that the program would cause employees to come to work while sick to avoid being placed in the program, which could also potentially spread illness throughout the community. “We pointed out to [the college] that we have a significant number of our members who work in food services, who… cook the food that the students and residents eat every day,” Ankenman said. He explained that as a result of the program, he knew “as a fact [that] there were a significant number of employees who were coming in sick, possibly with COVID-19… [or] other respiratory diseases.”
Continued on page 5.
NEWS Faculty of Music community call on U of T to reopen MacMillan Theatre
SCIENCE Why your biases are making you a bad voter
SPORTS Joe’s Basketball Diaries: Intersection of politics and sport