***Sent on behalf of Kathleen (GFWSSA's Social Media Coordinator)
Dear GFWSSA members,
On May 24th, members received payment from York University that did not reflect our expectations of the remediation period. Even though the Memoranda of Settlement and the Employer’s own remediation FAQ states that remediation pay is 90% of what “would have been earned completing the Winter Term”, York has been choosing to pay out 90% of entire full contracts – at the expense of members’ pay cheques! We must reject the Employer’s mischaracterization of 90% remediation pay as being 90% of members’ full contracts, regardless of whether they are Fall-Winter or just Winter term. Additionally, members have complained that many pay cheques did not include their current hours for March and April on their pay stubs, which can impact their EI applications. Other members have identified discrepancies in their tax deductions. We need to take action, and fast!
A few actions are taking place due to the wage discrepancies on our recent pay cheques because 90% of salary that would have been earned completing the Winter Term should mean exactly that.
Everyone's situation is a bit different depending on their contract, unit, faculty etc. First, figure out your wage discrepancies using this wage calculator: \https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EHFMmftVEBCR850xXzpUhPuK29OuegNLzEouebCEkXE/edit?usp=sharing. There is an instructional YouTube video on the first page of the doc.
Then...
1. Phone and Email Zap: We can inundate our employers with emails and phone calls to force them into accountability for our missing wages! Go to this link for a directory of administrators contact info, along with scripts we can use when addressing our missing wages. https://3903.cupe.ca/zap/.
2. Rally: Thursday, May 30th we are planning a rally on campus. More details TBA. If you can help organize, please email cupe3903csu1@gmail.com. There is an announcement on our CUPE 3903 Strike 2024 WhatsApp community about the rally, along with a poll to determine attendance. Very few people have indicated that they would attend the rally thus far. Even if you cannot help to organize, there is strength in numbers, so please attend if you can! If we have a well-attended rally, it can hopefully attract media attention. We need all the publicity and public support that we can get around this issue.
3. If you have wage discrepancies, after contacting HR and administration with the phone/email zapping, please file an individual grievance with CUPE 3903's grievance officer at cupe3903go@gmail.com. Figure out your wage discrepancies using the wage calculator and gather your paystubs, and then email them to our grievance officer. A policy grievance will also be filed, but it is important that each employee files a grievance too.
For more information please go to CUPE 3903 website or our website at GFWSSA as we will keep you updated the best we can!
In Solidarity,
Kathleen
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