What is the strike issue regarding Graduate Assistants (GAs) in CUPE 3903 Unit 3?

CUPE 3903 represents approximately 3,000 employees, about 2,000 of whom are graduate students, mainly doctorate students who have teaching assistantships. The other employees are contract faculty members.

CUPE 3903 is actually on strike seeking to represent Master’s students who do not have jobs with the University. These students are funded by the York Graduate Fellowship.  CUPE 3903 proposes that all Master’s students be required to have a work assignment and, as a result, be union members. This is not the union’s role nor what they were certified to do by the Ontario Labour Relations Board – which is to represent employees.

What is the basis for the claim that York has cut 800 GA position?

To better support full-time Master’s students’ ability to focus on their studies and promote student success, including timely program completion, the University introduced the York Fellowship in 2016-17 which provides full-time Master’s students their financial support without requiring them to work as a GA.  Graduate assistantships, which many Master’s students were previously required to take on for their funding, often involved clerical or administrative tasks unrelated to the GA’s studies.

In addition to the Fellowship, Master’s students also receive an annual healthcare bursary of $1,000 from the University which covers the cost of their enrolment in the Graduate Student Association Healthcare Plan and leaves them with additional funds on top of the benefits they receive from the plan.

CUPE 3903 has characterized the shift away from requiring work as a GA for financial support to providing graduate funding through the Fellowship without a work requirement as “cutting” 800 GA positions.

We fundamentally disagree with CUPE 3903 that full-time Master’s students should all have to work as a GA for their financial support. A key principle guiding the University’s approach to funding Master’s students is the importance of putting students and their academic success first.

We also fundamentally disagree with CUPE 3903 that this is an appropriate strike issue.

Why the claim that the University is Union Busting?

CUPE 3903 has made the claim in various communications that the work of the “GA positions” that have been “cut” has remained and has been downloaded to cheaper non-unionized labour.  It is simply not true.  This claim has been debunked here.

What do our Master’s students think about the new funding model?

In the end, this is all about our students and the most effective way of supporting their success.  Their voices are critical.  We have received strong support from Master’s students for the York Fellowship.

Significantly, GA opportunities remain under the new funding model.  Faculty members are able to create meaningful GA experiences with funding through external grants and post those opportunities.