The members of CUPE 3902 voted 97 per cent in favour of the new settlement reached last week between its bargaining team and U of T. The deal lasts three years and expires April 30, 2011, which throws a wrench into CUPE’s plans for a province-wide strike in 2010, when a number of university contracts expire. The union, which represents teaching assistants, contract course instructors and accessibility workers, will now start to implement the new settlement.
CUPE 3902 has announced their next objective: launching a drive to organize post doctoral fellows, one of the few remaining groups on campus who aren’t represented by the union. A launch event at Alumni Hall is scheduled for Feb. 10.
The details of the settlement:
Three per cent salary increase per year, starting September 2008, except for 2009-10, which will see .5 per cent. Payment will be made retroactively to cover the fall 2008 term.
For childcare benefits, the university will make a yearly increase of $60,000.
U of T will pay the union $2.4 million to run its own healthcare plan. The new HCSA will have maximum allocation of $500 for employees who work 50 hours or more.
Increased sick leave, which includes three days of full pay for TAs, and 5 days of full pay for course instructors.
New mothers can choose between two months’ paid maternity leave or an EI provision top-up of salary, which lasts up to 17 weeks.
A month of paid parental leave, which applies to adoptive parents, fathers, and mothers who wish to take added time off after maternity leave.
A new healthcare fund for international students. U of T has agreed to provide the union with a lump sum to offset UHIP expenses. International students can bring in receipts for added costs, and the union will disperse the appropriate funds.
A new Provost’s Working Group on the Undergraduate Tutorial Experience, consisting of four professors and two TAs. The group will assess the educational value of U of T’s tutorial groups and present a report by March 2010.
