Update from http://www.cupe3903.tao.ca/ :
The vote will be held at the following date and time:
Monday, January 19th and 20th
9am-1pm and 3pm-7pm at the Novotel Hotel
3 Park Home Avenue
North York
Nearest subway: North York Center
Although we requested the vote be held at an earlier date (i.e., this week), the university has decided to push it back to next week.
Please check for further updates as further details will be posted regularly. Union members will receive packages that give more specific information on the employer’s offer.
I am patiently avaiting the result of this vote.
York Strike 2008 
someone summarize and explain this situation please
So, supposing this works, when is the earliest we will be back? …although I am fairly confident it won’t…And if it doesn’t work when is the earliest we will be back?
soo..does anyone know how long it will take to process a vote. and if they vote no (which i am sure won’t happen…..), do you think that they will go immediately to the bargaining table?
i hate speculating, and i realize there probably is no point, but from what i am understanding the vote will probably fail. And that is just wasted time (because the last 8/9 weeks weren’t a waste at all…)
apparently if this doesn’t get resolved by the end of next week, they have to declare the academic year a loss and it’ll be over…
@cabby
That is a complete lie- the academic year is NOWHERE near lost
One of my TA’s e-mailed me today and here’s what they said:
“It seems like we’ll probably be out for at least another two weeks, unfortunately. The Ontario Ministry of Labour has set the date for the forced ratification vote for January 19th and 20th. This means the results will likely be announced on the 20th or the 21st. Even if all three units agree to the contract (which is probably unlikely because the union’s bargaining committee and executive have jointly issued a statement asking members to reject any deal presented through a forced ratification vote), York has said it will need some time to resume classes. If the deal is rejected the two sides will need to resume negotiations because outside of the provincial government legislating the union back to work (something that is unlikely at this point), after the university has used its sole opportunity to use a forced ratification vote it must broker a negotiated deal that the bargaining team brings to members for a vote. If the province does pass back-to-work legislation, it likely won’t be until the provincial legislature resumes sitting in February. So, bottom line, if you’re planning work shifts you can be reasonably assured that you probably won’t be back in class until near the end of January at the earliest. The loss of teaching time in January also pretty much ensures that we’ll likely need to go deep into May and possibly the early part of June to make up time. If you have questions about the possibility of extending the year, you should contact York directly because university officials will have a much better idea of the time needed to complete the year.”
they are going to vote on the 19/20th- we’ll most likely know by the night of the 20th, morning 21st how it went. It will most likely be voted down, meaning, the union will force the uni back to the table. Given this situation the uni will be forced to bargin, and bargin you will see- unlike anything so far in this strike. It is a pull out all the stops get down and fix this shit process. It will most likely be over in 2-3 days, and we’ll be back for the 26th. This is my opinion on the situation, obviously it could go differently. But based on all I have read everyday of this strike from all sources, everything is pointing to this.
The year won’t be lost at all, the summer wont be lost, and neither the fall semes. It’s all endgame now.
i agree exactly with RR .. that situation seems most likely
I still agree with what someone else said on an earlier post. The date for the forced vote is probably pushed back to let the CUPE members freeze their ass off this week on the picket line when its -17 outside before windchill and really reconsider voting to accept this offer.
Not that I really like school, I just want all this to be over and graduate ASAP (although it is highly unlikely since this strike has gone so badly).
I think somehow a half ass’ed agreement will be reached and we’ll go through this exact same thing in 2 or 3 years.
@rawrz
LOL- Id love to think that the date is based on the cold, it would actually make me smile at something so innocent in this situation. But unfortunatly with the amount of tangled politics involved, especially now that the ministry is involved, will make this process anything but cute. A forced ratification demand is a huge deal, and a very delicate one at that. All unions around the country are watching, as this is a really agressive move against collective bargining. Thats why the ministry is so uptight about the process; it all has to be administered to the legal tee, or the real powerful unions nation-wide will have a hayday. So- as far as the date for this to all go down on, I doubt highly anyone but the gov’t themselves had a say on the date. If you check out the details of the 2000/2001 strike on cupe’s site you can see the same pattern- in fact i think this time the government has actually rushed it. The last thing they want to do is back to work legislation, that would get uglier than anything you have seen in the strike. Think about the poptential upcomming public school teacher strike- believe me the gov’t is, and they are saving their legislative power for that.
I think I’m lactose intolerant because I’m Chinese …
@ RR
ok fine I guess you’re right. But hey, it makes me feel so much better knowing that they will freeze their asses off while I sit inside or go window shopping. Hopefully someones butt will get stuck to a chair outside or something and maybe they’ll be doing some OT on the picket line.
@SlovchetovMike
thats not a Chinese name. But for the record, I’m LTT because I’m Chinese too. haha… ok not really, But we have more of a genetic tendency to be LTT.
Get your lazy asses back to work!
@ RR
I pray and hope that the summer school gets saved. I want to get done with some classes over the summer so i can take some electives next year in hopes of raising my gpa because once we get back to classes, i know my GPA will suffer. This is FUBAR….SAVE SUMMER SCHOOl
So, anyone would like to know why the fat cats decided to wait till next week?
only two possibilities remain:
either the union will take the insulting and concessionary offer from the employer and resume classes on the 22nd/23rd, or;
the union will reject the bad offer that has inconvenienced everyone, and receive a better offer in the week following, resuming classes on the 29th/30th (at the absolute latest).
if you don’t want your wasted time and money to be poured down the administrative drain, then hope for the latter.
almost time to dust the cobwebs off our books! keep ’em crossed!
this year is pretty much a waste. even if we get back by late next week, we’re all gonna be sitting in classes til like june.
Man, this is great news for all those students who go to other universities in the GTA (or who live in the GTA but go to other schools outside the GTA) who won’t have to compete with York students for summer jobs – because the York students will still be in school!
it is very unlikely that classes will resume on the 22nd/23rd if the vote works..
the university needs time to re-work whatever was left of the fall term and re-plan the next term.. if the vote works then we could start school on the 26th at the earliest.
So anyone know, or can anyone guess, when this year would be scrapped if it does??
So does anyone know, or can anyone guess, when this year would be scrapped? (If it does go that far)
It would have to continue on for weeks more. The University will scap the summer semester first before they scap the fall/winter ones. People want to scap the fall/winter yet keep the summer for some reason. If it ends soon, all of them will be saved. If it continues on, look for summer school to either not be offered or only 3.0 classes.
the year wont be scrapped..
summer school will be scrapped if this continues longer
I’m not planning to do summer school…but will York further revise their remediation bulletin and cut more days off the winter term in order to save the summer?
I really don’t want the winter term to go into late May/early June….
I doubt that they’ll cut any more days off the winter term. If and when this is ever settled, you can be sure that winter term will definitely be going into late May/early June. Absolutely ridiculous.
Oh, and I heard from a friend today whose roomie is a CUPE member and a TA, that many of these TAs are earning more from strike pay than they get when they’re working! So, yeah, more than the $30/hr. they’re already getting!
why wouldn’t york refund my money if i wanted to scrap the year?? i feel like such a piece of meat here/
wtf? they have to scrap the year after 12 weeks or something. i can’t remember where but i know i read that. granted, one shouldn’t believe everything they read. but i’ve also been told this by many reliable sources. i just want my money back at this point.
RW i feel you
@ rw
@brutal
I’m with you both. Give me back my money and let me start this year over. (Although I know this will never happen)
fedup — i don’t know what your friend told you but the most a TA can “earn” by striking is $200 a week and that’s only if they picket 20 hours!
Who cares how much you’re earning? We want to go back to class…
@ education is a right?
So? Capitalists want money, Hitler wanted the jews dead, hippies want world peace, and dogs want steak.
Somehow all the destructive wants are satisfied.
You should be careful.
not to mention, i want a solid gold toilet