U of T Press workers avoided a strike “at the last minute,” says CUPE national representative Mary Catherine McCarthy.
An agreement was reached between union negotiators and management on Aug. 18. The workers voted in favour of the agreement later that night.
The workers in question were 33 shipping and receiving employees at the U of T Bookstore on College Street and the Downsview Distribution Division. They are members of Local 3261 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
Originally, the issues “were mostly about being able to make economic advancements,” says McCarthy. “Over the last 10 years,” she says, “their wages have only increased by six per cent [and] have fallen behind when you consider inflation.”
CUPE 3261 President Mehdi Kouhestaninejad explained that during negotiations, “the issue derailed from wage increase to job security” when U of T Press decided to lay off five workers in the Downsview Distribution Division.
The workers “ended up accepting only a two per cent wage increase, whereas most university workers have gotten three per cent,” says McCarthy. She adds that the U of T Press employees “expect similar gains that other university workers get, and U of T Press was refusing.”
McCarthy says labour problems arise because though U of T Press is owned by U of T, it is run as a separate business and has an “arm’s length relationship” to the university.
After a previous offer was rejected, U of T Press improved job security language in the contract. Besides the two per cent wage increase, the “grievances were resolved by [U of T Press] returning the five workers to work,” says McCarthy. Two of the five workers were recalled to permanent positions, and the other three have been re-employed full-time at least until November.
McCarthy adds that they’ve only accepted a one-year agreement “because the wages were not very good” and says that they “hope to be back in bargaining.” CUPE will also continue to monitor U of T Press’ use of part-time workers. This round of negotiations did not include the bookstore’s part-time employees, whose contract is coming up at the end of October.
Though workers “accepted that we were able to get some measure of job security and modest wage increase,” says McCarthy, it was “not good enough to sign on to a several year contract.” They were happy they were “able to resolve, avoid a strike, and get the five workers their jobs back.”
Kouhestaninejad says that they were “unhappy because the agreement didn’t go as planned, but on the other hand, the issues are still on the table.”
U of T Press was unavailable for comment.
