Update: The Steelworkers have announced that members voted 87 per cent for a strike mandate if no agreement with U of T admin is reached. The deadline is midnight, Sept. 7.
After months of negotiation, the United Steelworker Local 1998 voted for a strike mandate last night. Though official results have not been announced, sources close to the union report that the union voted “yes” by a landslide majority. This could mean a strike as early as Sept. 8, the first day of classes, if admin and the union are unable to come to an agreement by then. The strike mandate would considerably increase the union’s bargaining power, demonstrating support for its negotiating team.
Both union and administration will be looking to avoid an actual strike, which will only happen if the parties come to an impasse in negotiations. “The most successful strike is one that doesn’t need to take place,” reads the Steelworkers website. “When the members of a Union demonstrate strong support for their bargaining team, there is often enough pressure on the Employer to reach a settlement.”
The site also notes that after a comparable strike mandate in 2005, the Steelworkers won a settlement by their deadline. U of T’s unions have been negotiating with the administration over the summer on issues ranging from salaries and pensions to job security and retirement. Steelworkers Local 1998 covers 3,500 administrative, technical, and student workers at U of T. Though the union cannot discuss gains due to bargaining protocol, representatives say there is still much ground to cover.
Allison Dubarry, president of the Steelworkers and member of the negotiating team, said that keeping wages in pace with inflation is a chief goal. “Our members feel [the effects of inflation] every time they go to the grocery store, go to fill up their car, or buy anything,” she said.
The Steelworkers have been at the table with admin throughout the past week and may continue negotiations into the weekend. “Obviously we want to reach an agreement with Steel, and they want to reach an agreement with us,” said Angela Hildyard, VP of human resources & equity at U of T. “We’re all working towards that common goal.” The VP was optimistic, stating “I am confident that we’ll reach a deal with them […] we’ve made a lot of progress.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees have also been negotiating with the admin. CUPE 3902, which represents part-time teaching staff, has a very similar list of grievances. The Local, in concert with the Graduate Students’ Union and others, recently persuaded the university to fulfill their 2006 promise to award graduate students $15,000 in addition to tuition for the 2008-2009 school year. Their website states that, “Although this is an important victory over the administration’s recalcitrance, it is not a new gain, but merely the defense of a previous one […] the current round of bargaining […] has only just begun.”
Steelworkers and CUPE have met with each other, and with other unions in the University of Toronto Employees, to talk bargaining strategy. Robert Ramsay, president of Local 3902, said of the partnership, “We have a shared vision with Steelworkers about what quality public university means, about what quality secondary education means… [It’s] not just quality instruction but also a quality environment, and so improving the condition for workers in Toronto across the board is a huge part of that.”
According to UTSU VP external Dave Scrivener, students also have a role to play. Union gains can mean student gains, like the $15,000 for grad students. Scrivener also mentioned strikes in which students came to the aid of unions, as was the case at Carleton University last September. The VP even compared student grievances to union ones, saying students’ tuition troubles are not so different from unions’ wage battles. “Steelworkers and CUPE have been major allies and supporters of students in the past,” said Scrivener. “It’s only appropriate that students are making sure that we’re there for the unions.”
