From:  Derek Blackadder <dblackadder@cupe.ca> and Vicky Smallman 
To:       Newsflash from the York strike for the Breaking News section 
Sent:     Tuesday, January 09, 2001 1:52 PM 
Posted:   Wednesday  10, 2001 2:10 PM 

  The CUPE 3903 bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement on
  Collective Agreements for both unit 1 and 3.  After 11 weeks on strike,the
  administration has finally made major movement on the issues of both
  units.

  The bargaining team and executive have decided to bring the deals to a
  ratification vote on Thursday, with a recommendation that the membership
  ratify these agreements.  The time and location will be announced later
  today.

  A summary of the key elements of the tentative agreements are outlined
  below.  The complete text will be sent out on 3903News and on the website
  by Tuesday afternoon, and an analysis by the bargaining team and executive
  will follow on Tuesday evening.

  Unit 1

  The key issue in the unit 1 collective agreement is tuition protection.
  We have secured tuition indexation language which maintains the 
  principles of our previous collective agreement without a re-opener 
    clause and reference
  to domestic students.
 
  Unit 3
 
  There were four major issues on the table for unit 3: a rebate linked to
  tuition; funding of GSA benefits; summer funding; a wage floor.  The union
  has won significant increases in all four areas.
 
  Tuition-linked rebate: we have won the proposal with which we went into
  this round of bargaining, a rebate beginning in May 2001 which mirrors 
  the tuition increases planned for the next two years.
  Funding of GSA benefits: In the first year of the collective agreement the
  employer will pay 80% of benefits, and in the second year 100%. In
  addition, we have negotiated a $15,000 fund to subsidize the UHIP fees for
  international students.

  Summer funding: the union has negotiated a bursary fund of
  $100,000 to provide summer funding for our members.
  Wages: for year one the employer will provide a base wage of $5,880, with
  a signing bonus configured according to our initial proposal (i.e. ranging
  from $882 for those at the low end to $72.80 for all those above $7280).
  In year two the base wage will be $7,300.
 
  Back to work protocol
  The back to work protocol includes a work/compensation package similar to
  that in the unit 2 Collective Agreement.  We have also secured extensions
  of academic deadlines and terms of study, including a two month
  extension of academic terms.  There is also protection of community 
  members and research/graduate assistants who were not official 
  members of the bargaining unit, but who may have participated in the
  strike.