We, the undersigned full-time professors, librarians, and archivists at York University, call on York’s senior administration to make a serious effort to bargain with CUPE 3903, negotiate a fair deal and end the ongoing strike.

CUPE members are striking for reasonable demands of fair wages, better benefits, and job security in the face of the astronomically high cost of living and inflation in Toronto over the last few years. Instead of negotiating in good faith, the York University senior administration has refused to bargain with CUPE 3903 since the start of the strike on February 26, has misrepresented CUPE positions, and permitted police violence against picketers. The senior administration is openly asking CUPE 3903 members to cross picket lines and work during the strike. It has permitted violent police actions against picket lines, prompting arrest of a picket captain. This has created a threatening context for the students and other York community members on campus, especially those who are racialized.

We are deeply concerned with the heavy-handed and unproductive approach taken by York’s central administration and Board of Governors to the CUPE 3903 strike. The administration’s approach has had serious, detrimental effects on learning, teaching, academic decision-making, pedagogical integrity, governance and job security for a range of workers at York University. And it undermines public trust in our university.

The administration is pressuring full time faculty at York University to continue teaching during the strike. The Senate’s policy on the academic implications of labour disruptions considers academic integrity as the primary obligation and that “no dilution of standards normally expected of students should be permitted and there should be as little diminution as possible in the instructional or supervisory support given to students.” In asking faculty to continue teaching courses that depend on CUPE 3903 members’ work, the administration, via Dean’s offices, is violating past practice, YUFA’s Collective Agreement, and arguably the York Act. Faculty members have also determined that it is a violation of academic integrity to continue courses without TAs or without students who exercise their right not to cross pickets during a strike. The Deans, in various cases, rejected individual faculty’s perfectly reasonable pedagogical rationales for suspending their courses. It is unclear who gives the Deans the authority to impose such rejections. The decanal stance, in various cases, that courses can be taught without TAs and that this can possibly “enhance the academic integrity of a course” seems nonsensical and lacks pedagogic legitimacy. Disregard of thoughtful rationales violates the collegiality upon which York University rests. The manner in which these directives have been issued contradicts the widely understood academic norms and existing practices (Article 17.01, YUFA CA) that individual instructors are in the best position to determine whether the academic integrity of their courses can be maintained during a CUPE 3903 strike. YUFA, for example, has consistently defended the norm that determining academic integrity is the prerogative of individual course instructors.

In an even more egregious move, the administration took control over online communications with students. Using online FAQ documents and un-editable messages on the eClass learning portal, students were told that their classes were running as usual despite the labour disruption. In many cases, this communication contradicts faculty members’ direct messages to their students about coursework and planning. FAQ documents created by the administration also stated that “it is in their best interests” for students to attend them. Meanwhile professors have no access to many of the online communication portals and messaging that administration is constantly sharing with students about these classes. Many individuals, departments, and Faculties have expressed their objections, to unclear effect.

The York University administration is prioritizing capital projects, expanding the managerial rung and demonstrating poor financial planning, all of which is severely damaging the University’s reputation. It did not prepare a budgetary contingency for a wage freeze due to Bill 124 despite early warning from labour law experts that the bill would be deemed unconstitutional and remediation will be necessary. Senior administration at York has seen unreasonable expansion and inflated salaries between 2018-2023. Given York University’s debt and decreasing domestic and international student enrollments, the administration's handling of the strike will have a financial impact. We know that the year after a labour disruption, the enrollments decrease substantially. As recently as late February, the York Board of Governors approved a $20 million budget increase to complete the construction of the Markham campus building, yet has not offered a fair settlement to underpaid CUPE workers. We worry the failure of the administration to settle with CUPE 3903 and the ongoing strike will further lead to a deterioration of York's financial position.

The administration’s poor decision making and interventions are causing chaos, with grave implications for academic integrity, respect for academic freedom and professional expertise of faculty members, and York University’s reputation. No doubt, this clear encroachment on academic freedom will also prove of interest to the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT).

We therefore object in the strongest terms to the recent rejections issued by Deans and Principals/ Coordinators’ offices of faculty’s rationales for course suspensions. We also object to unprecedented control mechanisms such as taking over digital infrastructure during the strike to pressure students, CUPE members and faculty to cross picket lines and permit or condone by silence the violent police action on pickets. Finally, we advocate strongly for reconsideration of financial priorities and urgently call on the President and the Board of Governors to negotiate with CUPE 3903 and reach a fair, negotiated settlement as soon as possible.
Steve Tufts, Associate Professor
Terry Maley, Associate Professor
Mark Thomas, Professor
Stefan Kipfer, Professor
Abidin Kusno, Professor
Soma Chatterjee, Associate Professor
Aparna Mishra Tarc, Associate Professor,
Cate Sandilands, Professor
Luin Goldring, Professor
Ilan Kapoor, Professor

Andil Gosine, Professor

Vidya Shah, Associate Professor

Richard Wellen, Associate Professor

John Greyson, Associate Professor

Gabrielle Moser, Associate Professor

Merouan Mekouar, Associate Professor

Kathy Bischoping, Associate Professor

Ellie Perkins, Professor

Raju J Das, Professor

Harjeet Badwall, Associate Professor

Anna Zalik, Professor

Ratiba Hadj-Moussa, Professor
Carlo Fanelli, Associate Professor
Vanessa Lamb, Associate Professor
Emily Laxer, Associate Professor
Dennis Pilon, Professor
Tina Rapke, Associate Professor
Susan Ingram, Professor
Laurence Packer, Distinguished Research Professor
Jeffery R Webber, Professor
Fuyuki Kurasawa, Associate Professor
Katherine Nastovski, Assistant Professor
Evan Light, Associate Professor

Ranu Basu, Professor

Lina Brand Correa, Assistant Professor
Amanda Glasbeek, Associate Professor

Ganaele Langlois, Associate Professor
Rodney Loeppky, Associate Professor
Shawn Kerwin, Associate Professor
Willem Maas, Professor
Cynthia Wright, Associate Professor
David Cecchetto, Professor
Asmita Bhutani, Assistant Professor
Lykke de la Cour, Assistant Professor
Barbara Evans, Associate Professor
Yam Lau, Associate Professor

John Simoulidis, Associate Prof
Sarah Rotz, Assistant Professor
Greg Albo, Associate Professor

Luisa Sotomayor, Associate Professor
Brenda Longfellow, Professor
Steve Bailey, Associate Professor

Denielle Elliott, Associate Professor
Philipp Angermeyer, Associate Professor
Susan Warwick, Associate Professor
Elaine Coburn, Associate Professor
Eve Haque, Professor
Carolyn Podruchny, University Professor
Gamal Abdel-Shehid, Associate Professor

Amanda Ricci, Associate Professor
L. Anders Sandberg, Professor
Nombuso Dlamini, Professor

Mark Cauchi, Associate Professor
Joan Steigerwald, Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor

Tuulia Law, Assistant Professor
Jim Vernon, Professor
Peter Vandergeest, Professor Emeritus

Alison Harvey, Associate Professor

Joanna Robinson, Associate Professor
Anne O'Connell, Associate Professor
Gillian McGillivray, Associate Professor
Laam Hae, Associate Professor

sava saheli singh, Assistant Professor
Alison Crosby, Associate Professor

James Corcoran, Assistant Professor

Christo El Morr, Professor
Alicia Turner Associate Professor
Gordon Fitch, Assistant Professor
Bianca Beauchemin, Assistant Professor

William Denton, Associate Librarian

Shubhra Gururani, Associate Professor
Radhika Mongia, Associate Professor
Michael Ornstein, Associate Professor
Bonita Lawrence, Professor
Annie Bunting, Professor
Jean-Thomas Tremblay, Assistant Professor
John Dupuis, Associate Librarian
Roberto Perin Professor Emeritus
Ola Mohammed, Assistant Professor
Amelie Barras, Associate Prof
Jennifer Grant, Assistant Archivist
Sylvia Bawa, Associate Professor

Joy Mannette, Associate Professor

F. Tim Knight, Associate Librarian
Walid El Khachab, Associate Professor
Carmela Murdocca, Professor
Ann Marie Murnaghan, Assn. Professor
Pietro Giordan, Associate Professor
Nick Ruest, Associate Librarian
Jennifer Foster, Associate Professor
Tomasz Mrozewski, Assistant Librarian
Tyler Totten, Assistant Professor
Buddhika Bellana, Assistant Professor
Elisha Lim, Assistant Professor
Shirin Shahrokni Associate professor
Dr. Teresa Macias, Associate Professor
Gerald Kernerman, Associate Professor
Ricardo Grinspun, Professor Emeritus
Patti Ryan, Senior Librarian
Kris Joseph, Assistant Librarian
Leila Pourtavaf, Assistant Professor
Patricia Wood, Professor
Samia Tawwab, Sessional Assistant Professor
Wendy Geniusz, Professor
Art Redding Professor
Marina Morrow, Professor

Naomi Norquay Professor Emeritus
Karen Murray, Associate Professor
Dennis Raphael, Professor, School of Health Policy and Management

Claudia Chaufan, Associate Professor
Art Redding, Professor

Ena Dua, Professor
Mihyon Jeon, Associate Professor
Maria Paraschos, Adjunct Archivist
Ibtissem Knouzi, Assistant Professor

Mike Palamarek, Sessional Assistant Professor
Matthias Hoben, Associate Professor
Hong Kal, Assoc. Professor
Renita Wong, Professor
Farah Ahmad, Professor
Julie Vig, Assistant Professor
Eric Mykhalovskiy, Professor
nancy viva davis halifax, associate professor
Guida Man, Associate Professor
Alexandra Widmer, Associate Professor
Alison Halsall, Associate Professor
Geoffrey Reaume, Associate Professor
Antulio Rosales, Assistant Professor
Eduardo Canel, Associate Professor
Liz Smeets, Assistant professor
Christina Kraenzle, Associate Professor
Ahrong Lee, Associate Professor
Dunja Baus, Asst Prof TS
Nalini Persram, Associate Professor
Philip Walsh, Associate Professor
Marsha Rampersaud, Assistant Professor
Thumeka Mgwigwi, Associate Librarian
Andy Weaver, Associate Professor

Alexandra Rutherford, Professor

Lorna Weir, Professor
Thomas Teo, Professor

Martin Breaugh, Professor
Avron Kulak, Associate Professor
Stephanie Marion, Assistant Professor
Jakeet Singh, Associate Professor

Liisa Duncan, Assistant Professor
Rachel Silver, Assistant Professor
Tamanisha J. John, Assistant Professor
Sabah Alnasseri, associate professor
Leesa Fawcett, Associate Professor
Shannon Bell, Professor
Sarah Blake, Associate Professor
Mark Goodman, Assistant Professor
Pablo Idahosa, Professor Emeritus
Dayna Nadine Scott, Associate Prof, Osgoode and EUC

Brad Meisner, Associate Professor
Adrian Smith, Associate Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor

Georges Moyal, Professor

Tammy George - Assistant Professor
Michael Pettit, Professor

Nicola Short, Associate Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor (CLA)
Kate Kaul, Assistant Professor

Ethel Tungohan, Associate Professor
Amanda De Lisio, Assistant Professor
Esteve Morera, Associate Professor

Matthew Tegelberg, Associate Professor

Steffi Hamann, Assistant Professor
Heather MacRae, Associate Professor
Wendy McKeen, Associate Professor
Michol Hoffman, Associate Professor

Shanna Lino, Associate Professor

Liette Gilbert, Professor
Nick Mulé, Professor
Anne Rubenstein, Professor
Andrea O'Reilly, Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor
Usha Viswanathan Associate Professor
Mario Di Paolantonio, Associate Professor
Amar Wahab, Professor
Tania Das Gupta, Professor

Christina Sharpe, Professor, CRC

Katrina Cohen-Palacios, Assistant Archivist
Ali Kazimi, Professor
Fay Faraday, Associate Professor
Ellen Schraa, Associate Professor
Heidi Matthews, Assistant Professor
David Murray, Professor
Kym Bird, Professor
Harris Ali, Professor
Tanja Juric, Assistant Professor
Rob Heynen, Associate Professor
Frances Latchford, Associate Professor
Heejin Song, Assistant Professor
Patricia McDermott, Professor Emerita
Lisa Farley, Professor
Rose Ndengue, Assistant Professor
Samia Challal, Associate Professor
Kelly Bergstrom, Assistant Professor
Roger Keil, Professor
Bruce Ryder, Associate Professor
Kinnon MacKinnon, Asst Prof
Chris chapman, associate professor
Nabil Tahani, Associate Professor
Hira Singh, Associate Professor
Ute Lehrer, Professor
Natasha Tusikov, Associate Professor
Sarah Barrett, Professor
Agnes Whitfield Professor
Jodi Letkiewicz, Associate Professor
Dawn Bazely, University Professor

Molade Osibodu, Assistant Professor
Glenn GoShulak, Assistant Professor
Jennifer Pybus, Associate Professor
Rachel da Silveira Gorman, Associate Professor
Satinder Kaur Brar, Professor
Daniel Richards, Associate Professor
Markus Reisenleitner, Professor
Tesh W Dagne, Associate Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor (AMPD)
Hilary E. Davis, Sessional Assistant Professor
Daniel Cohn, Associate Professor
Taien Ng-Chan, Assistant Professor
Margaret Schotte, Associate Professor
Cheryl Cowdy, Assoc. Professor
Jacinthe Michaud Professor, GSWT
Anonymous, Assistant Professor
Maurice Poon, Professor
Glenn Stalker, Associate Professor
Lisa Sloniowski Associate Librarian
Natalie Neill, Associate Professor, Teaching
Anonymous, Assistant Professor
Katarina O'Briain, Assistant Professor
Mary Bunch, Associate Professor

Viviana Patroni, Professor Emerita
Safiyah Rochelle, Assistant Professor
Andrée-Ann Cyr, Associate Professor
Catherine Lamaison, Associate Professor

Harry Glasbeek, Professor Emeritus

Bruce Connell, Professor
Andrew Dawson, Associate Professor
A.M. Viens, Associate Professor
Elizabeth Pentland, Associate Professor
Marie-Elaine Lebel, Associate professor
Marcia Macaulay, Associate Professor
Valérie Schoof, Associate Professor
Geoffrey Ewen Associate Professor
Tereza Barta Associate Professor
Myra Bloom, Associate Professor
Julie Conder, Associate Professor

Tina Choi, Professor
María Constanza Guzmán, Professor

Geoff Lawrence, Associate Professor
Paul Grayson, Professor
Rosemary Coombe, Professor

Jay Ramasubramanyam, Assistant Professor
Shaunasea Brown, Assistant Professor
Tiana Reid, Assistant Professor
Kamala Kempadoo, Professor Emerita
Jody Berland, Professor Emerita
Nick Taylor, Associate Professor
Christopher Kyriakides, Associate Professor
Anonymous - Assistant Professor
Audrey Laurin-Lamothe, Associate Professor
Leah F. Vosko, Professor
Ian Martin, Associate Professor
Marcus Boon, Professor
Sheetala Bhat, Assistant Professor
Merle A.Jacobs Associate Professor
Simon Adam, Associate Professor
Andrea Medovarski, associate professor
Michael Nijhawan, Associate Professor
Paul Baxter, Associate. Professor, Social Science--Criminology and ISS.
Deborah Brock, Associate Professor
Mark Peacock, Professor
Sherry Johnson, Associate Professor
Michaela Hynie, Professor
Anonymous, Assistant Professor (LA&PS)
Shama Rangwala, Assistant Professor
Kalina Grewal, Associate Librarian
Hyejin Ku, Professor

Natalie Coulter, Associate Professor
Anne MacLennan, Associate Professor

Gillian Helfield, Assistant Professor

Anonymous, Assistant Professor
Honor Ford-Smith, Associate Professor Emeritus

Reza Rizvi, Assoc. Professor
Marios Fokaefs, Assistant Professor
ZhenMing Jiang, Associate Professor
Nergis Canefe, Professor
Basileus Zeno, Sessional Assistant Professor
Anna M. Agathangelou, Professor

Hossam Sadek, Associate Professor
Joseph Keeping, Associate Professor

Gail Vanstone, Associate Professor
Cora Coady, Assistant Librarian
Deanne Williams, Professor
Kael Reid, Assistant Professor
Gabrielle Slowey, Associate Professor

Anonymous, Assistant Professor
John McCullough, Assoc. Professor

Sonya Scott, Associate Professor
Melanie Dauncey Sessional
Patrick Hall, Professor
Anonymous, Associate Professor
Martha Stiegman, Associate Professor

Deborah Harris, Professor

Aimé Avolonto, Associate Professor
Lorna Erwin, Associate Professor
Kelly Pike, Associate Professor
Terry Goldie Professor
Annette Bickford, Associate Professor
Professor Sheila L Cavanagh
Merle Jacobs, Associate Professor
Lisette Canton, Associate Professor
jacinthe michaud, professor
Anonymous, Associate Professor

Please note:  the signature list will be updated periodically