#CUPE3903: 145 York fulltime faculty sign urgent message to Senate Executive

OPEN MESSAGE TO SENATE EXECUTIVE:



Dear members of Senate Executive,



We the undersigned are writing with extreme concern regarding the possibility that Senate Executive will decide today to resume classes taught by YUFA and CUPE2 faculty while the strike of CUPE1 and CUPE3 continues.



We urge you not to allow this to happen, and to continue the full suspension of classes until there is a settlement with Units 1 and 3 and a back to work protocol. We would like to see this settlement made quickly, efficiently, and fairly.



An immediate return to classes would introduce significant hazards and distress for all members of the university. Recall the chaos that ensued in our university in the context of a similar situation in 2000-01. At that time CUPE went on strike and Senate Executive decided to continue classes with instructors who were not in strike. A situation of enormous complexity and distress ensued for everyone involved, but particularly for students:



--Some YUFA instructors went back to teaching while many others did not. Similarly, immediate resumption of classes during the current strike would mean that some CUPE2 instructors would go back to teach while others would refuse to cross picket lines. This will lead to serious complications with the management of the academic term. When will the academic term end and the next one commence? According to which timetables? How do faculty and students manage two simultaneous term calendars: one for instructors teaching, the second for those not crossing the picket lines and Unit 1 CDs? What's the impact on students having to deal with courses running on different calendars?



--Even in classes where instructors go back to teach, students are protected by Senate policy from repercussions if they choose not to cross picket lines. So instructors will be having two sets of students in their courses, those who came back to class and those who did not. How will the added workload necessary for dealing with this situation be handled? Can YUFA instructors be forced to deal with the added workload, and will CUPE2 instructors be paid for the added workload? Remember, instructors who return to class will then need to deal with the students who return only when the strike ends, effectively extending the term and/or increasing workload for them.



--What will happen to classes with graders, TAs, tutorials, and so on? Are YUFA and CUPE2 course directors going to be forced to take on all these tasks, even when it is not physically feasible, as in large classes? Will the courses proceed without assignments, tutorials, examinations graded by TAs, etc, and what are the implications? What happens if these course directors do not agree to take on these tasks, as I foresee will happen with many colleagues?



--Transportation chaos and extreme safety concerns: All public transportation will continue to avoid entering campus. With thousands of faculty and students being dropped outside the perimeter, we are going to see many problems and, alarmingly, severe issues of safety, particularly for classes after dark. Can you imagine hundreds of people walking at 10 pm to the perimeter of campus and waiting there for the buses? This, by itself, is good reason not to restart classes.



--Extremely dangerous picket lines: We witnessed with horror the event that happened at Shoreham Drive this week. If classes restart, many thousands of cars and pedestrians will be crossing the picket lines. Moreover, strikers may decide to extend their picket line hours until the evening, given there will be evening classes. It is not difficult to see that this situation invites dangerous events and very serious safety issues.



--Divisiveness and conflict in our campus: Is there a context that invites conflict and divisiveness more than one in which one set of course directors (both YUFA and CUPE2) goes back to classes while others do not, and where some students are crossing picket lines while others do not. During this strike, we have so far upheld a sense of respect and civility towards others; even here, conflict and injury have arisen. It is not difficult to foresee changes for the worse in the event of an immediate return to classes.



Dear members of Senate Executive, for these and many other reasons, we urge you to maintain a full suspension of classes until all units of CUPE settle.



Respectfully signed,



[signatories as of 2:00 pm, 10 March 2015)







Teresa Abbruzzese

Joan Allen

Sabah Alnasseri

Aimé Avolonto

Harjeet Badwall

Ranu Basu

Silvya Bawa

Dawn Bazely

Shannon Bell

Jody Berland

Georges Bérubé

Ulrich Best

Kathy Bischoping

Philippe Bourdin

Rob Bowma

Deborah Brock

Mora Campbel

David Cecchetto

Chris Chapman

Rosemary Coombe

Marc Coroux

Natalie Coulter

Alison Crosby

Peter E. Cumming

Elizabeth Dauphinee

Megan Davies

Gene Desfor

Susan Driver

Liisa Duncan

John Dupuis

Secil Erdogan

Barbara Evans

Geoffrey Ewen

Honor Ford-Smith

Liette Gilbert

Amanda Glasbeek

Mary Goiton

Luin Goldring

Allan Greenbaum

Ricardo Grinspun

Shubhra Gururani

Ratiba Hadj-Moussa

Eve Haque

Jinthana Haritaworn

Barbara Heron

Teresa Holmes

Asher Horowitz

Susan Ingram

Stanley Jeffers

Cameron Johnston

Jan Kainer

Ilan Kapoor

Peggy Keall

J. Keeping

Roger Keil

Kamala Kempadoo

Gerald Kernerman

Sean Kheraj

Janice Kim

Stefan Kipfer

Ruth Koleszar-Green

Ildiko Kovacs

Christina Kraenzie

Fuyuki Kurasawa

Lawrence Lam

Geoff Lawrence

Timothy Leduc

Becky Lee

Maria Liegghio

Carla Lipsig-Mumme

Rodney Loeppky

Brenda Longfellow

Marcia Macaulay

Teresa Macias

Heather MacRae

Sarah Maiter

Alina Marquez

Jocelyn Martel

Atsuko Matsuoka

John B. Mayberry

Carlota McAllister

John McCullough

Gillian McGillivray

Wendy McKeen

Arthur McLuhan

David McNab

David McNally

Merouan Mekouar

Jacinthe Michaud

Haideh Moghissi

Georges Monette

Radhika Mongia

Esteve Morera

Georges Moyal

Arun Mukherjee

Carmella Murdocca

Marcello Musto

Eric Mykhalovskiy

Michael Nijhawan

Anne O'Connell

Deborah Orr

Laurence Packer

Mark Peacock

Linda Peake

Nalini Persram

Kelly Pike

Carolyn Podruchny

Justin Podur

Anna Pratt

Norene Pupo

Indhu Rajagopal

Darryl Reed

Markus Reisenleitner

Sylvie Rosienski-Pellerin

Stephanie Ross

Robin Roth

Don Rubin

L. Anders Sandberg

Sonya Scott

Victor Shea

Bruce Smardon

Penni Stewart

Martha Stiegman

Saskia Stille

David Szablowski

Yvette Szmidt

Patrick Taylor

Matthew Tegelberg

Mark Thomas

Dorin Uritescu

Peter Vandergeest

Gail Vanstone

Jim Vernon

Colleen Wagner

Andy Weaver

Gerda Wekerle

Walter Whiteley

David Wiesenthal

Ted Winslow

Renita Wong

Leslie Wood

Douglas Young

Lelia Young

Anna Zalik

Michael Zryd



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