On February 25, 2016, the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) ratified a new collective collective agreement with their employer. The three-year deal contains important enhancements to equity, particularly for transgender and Aboriginal faculty members.
The deal establishes a new Transgender Health Fund, worth $30,000 a year. This provision provides support to transgender faculty members by helping to cover their additional health and wellness costs.
The collective agreement also creates an incentive program for Aboriginal faculty hiring. Under the terms of the program, at least four, and as many as six, new Aboriginal faculty members will be hired over the life of the deal. These appointments will be in addition to new positions authorized under the regular annual hiring exercise. Academic units will be invited to submit proposals describing their recruitment strategy and how the proposed Aboriginal appointments align with the unit’s academic needs and priorities.
In addition, a new affirmative action threshold was established for visible minorities. Departments with fewer than 20 per cent visible minorities will need to meet the threshold when hiring.
The new agreement contains yearly salary increases and an increase to the progress-through-the-ranks amount. Also, faculty with teaching loads of more than two full-year courses a year are now able to apply to have their load reduced to two through a research release program.
For more information, please visit the YUFA website.