PDAD&C #16, 2013-14
To: PDAD&C
From: Brian Corman, Dean, School of Graduate Studies
Angela
Hildyard, Vice-President, Human Resources & Equity
Date: September
6, 2013
Re: Change
to Employment Status for Post-Doctoral Fellows in CUPE bargaining unit
You may recall (see PDAD&C#53 and 55) that a secret
ballot vote was to be conducted to assess whether a majority of Post-Doctoral Fellows
("PDFs") in the bargaining unit proposed by CUPE wished to be
represented by CUPE as their exclusive bargaining agent in dealing with the
University. A majority of those casting
ballots voted in favour of unionization. The Ontario Labour Relations Board
("OLRB") has now issued the Certificate confirming that CUPE has
exclusive bargaining rights with respect to employees in the following
bargaining unit:
All persons employed as Postdoctoral Fellows by the
University of Toronto in the City of Toronto and the City of Mississauga and
registered as Postdoctoral Fellows with the School of Graduate Studies save and
except:
1) persons who
exercise managerial functions or who are employed in a confidential capacity in
matters related to labour relations;
2) persons for
whom any other trade union holds bargaining rights under the Labour Relations
Act; and
3) Postdoctoral
Fellows who apply for and are awarded funding from any source other than the
University of Toronto including, without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR, or foundations such as the Mellon Foundation.
NOTE 1: Postdoctoral Fellows who receive their
stipends through a hospital are not included in the bargaining unit.
NOTE 2: Postdoctoral Fellows are included in the
bargaining unit notwithstanding the exclusion in (3) above where:
(a) at the time
after they first commence employment with the University of Toronto as a
Postdoctoral Fellow, they are receiving funding solely from the University of
Toronto so as to be in the bargaining unit;
(b) they
subsequently apply for and are awarded additional funding from any source other
than the University of Toronto; and
(c) the
additional funding in (b) above is less than the funding that the Postdoctoral
Fellow is continuing to receive from the University of Toronto.
The OLRB had ruled on January 20, 2012 that PDFs in this
kind of bargaining unit could be considered employees for the purposes of the
Labour Relations Act.
Since the subset of PDFs in question have clearly
indicated their intention to be represented by CUPE and no longer to be treated
as independent academic trainees, the University is taking steps to ensure that
PDFs who would fall within the bargaining unit will be treated as employees
when they are hired and offer letters are being amended for this purpose. With respect to existing PDFs within the
bargaining unit, communication is going to all relevant Post-Doctoral Fellows
to advise them of the change.
Those PDFs who will be included within the CUPE
bargaining unit must be treated as employees for the purpose of statutory
deductions for Income Tax, CPP and EI.
These deductions will be made automatically from the stipend payments to
PDFs in the bargaining unit, in the same manner that occurs for other
employees. The University has advised CUPE that it intends to proceed to
implement such required deductions very shortly.
Once CUPE has provided notice to bargain, the University
will bargain in good faith and will endeavour to agree upon a first collective
agreement which will set out the detailed terms and conditions of
employment. Before bargaining commences,
an expert bargaining committee will be formed to represent the interests of the
University, and there will be opportunities for input into the development of
the bargaining mandate, as occurs with all collective bargaining at the
University. It is important to keep in mind that Employment Standards
Legislation does outline minimum expectations with respect to vacation
entitlements, hours of work, leaves (e.g. maternity leave).
There will doubtless be questions that will arise from
PDFs, PIs and others, as to the detailed implication of the changes
necessitated by the choice of this group of PDFs to unionize. SGS, HR, and Labour Relations will all be
working together to provide additional information in the coming months. In the interim, questions should be directed
to the SGS Post-Doctoral Fellowship Office and they will be answered as soon as
possible on a coordinated basis.
Contacts:
Lisa Haley, SGS Post Doctoral Fellowship Office (postdoctoral@sgs.utoronto.ca)
Mikael Swayze, Labour Relations (mikael.swayze@utoronto.ca)
