Posted 30 September 2024
The Osgoode Hall Faculty Association (OHFA) stands in solidarity with the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL/AMPD), and has made a second donation in the amount of $1,000.
Posted 9 August 2024
OHFA stands in solidarity with YUFA in its effort to negotiate a fair and equitable renewed Collective Agreement that, among other fundamental priorities, preserves faculty participation in academic decisions and ensures a safe working and learning environment at York University.
Posted 21 July 2024
Campus Unions Call on York to Negotiate with YUFA
CUPE 3903, YUSA, CUPE 1356, and Osgoode Hall Faculty Association are united in supporting the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) and its effort to negotiate a fair deal with York University.
On July 12, York University requested a “no board” report, which triggers a legal countdown to a possible lockout or strike. Despite claiming in their recent communications to have increased financial difficulties due to the CUPE 3903 strike, the university administration has not hesitated in veering toward yet another possible campus shutdown. These continual threats of labour disruptions also damage the student experience at York.
York claims that student enrollments are too weak to justify increases to faculty salaries that YUFA has requested to match the rate of inflation. Yet York does not have those same worries when it comes to the salaries of senior administration, which have increased by an alarming 47% since 2018 despite university revenue only increasing by 3% over the same period. In its recent mass email, York blames its inability to support faculty members at the bargaining table on the “slower than expected recovery” since the pandemic began. Concerns about the impact of the pandemic did not prevent them from spending $260.5 million on building the Markham Campus over the same period.
York claims it wants to “reach consensus toward a common goal of a stable and thriving university”. Yet, continuing with its record violating collegial governance, York is proposing to eliminate the joint committees with YUFA that would ensure consultation with faculty members about how reducing the number of courses and introducing much larger ones might impact teaching and learning.
Far from fostering a thriving university, York’s proposals to YUFA appear aimed at circumventing overwork protection, making increases to class size part of the normal routine, and freeing the senior administration of their obligation to consult faculty members and adequately research the potential impact of these changes. York must bargain in good faith with YUFA if it is truly committed to student success and what it acknowledges are the “absolutely essential” contributions of YUFA to this university.
CUPE 3903, YUSA, CUPE 1356, and Osgoode Hall Faculty Association call on the university community to support YUFA in its effort to defend employees, students, and the quality of higher education at York.
Posted 16 May 2024
The Osgoode Hall Faculty Association (OHFA) stands in solidarity with the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL/AMPD), and has made a donation of $500.
Posted 25 March 2024
Following the 20 March 2024 Special Membership Meeting, OHFA has made a donation to CUPE 3903’s Strike Hardship Fund.
Posted 20 March 2024
OHFA expresses its solidarity to our fellow campus union, CUPE 3903, in its ongoing difficult strike for better wages and improved working conditions at York University.
Posted 2 November 2023
The Osgoode Hall Faculty Association (OHFA) Executive understands that this is a difficult time for many of our members, with the conflict in the Middle East. We strongly condemn all violence against civilians. We stand strongly against anti-Semitism, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and other forms of hate. We affirm the importance of academic freedom, especially in times of conflict. Regardless of their views and tone, and so long as they act within the law, OHFA members are accorded academic freedom and should not face disciplinary action for expressing their scholarly views.
The OHFA Executive is deeply concerned about the statements made in the Ontario legislature on October 17, 2023 by Jill Dunlop, Minister of Colleges and Universities.
In addressing a debate on the current conflict in the Middle East, Minister Dunlop named an Osgoode Hall Law School Professor, Heidi Matthews, and other professors, as well as students from York University and elsewhere. They were labelled anti-Semitic and accused of “celebrating” terrorism. The Minister also implied if not encouraged university administrations to pursue disciplinary actions against the named individuals.
Article 11.01 of the Collective Agreement sets out the administration and OHFA’s shared and ongoing obligations to “upholding, protecting, and promoting academic freedom as essential to the pursuit of truth and the fulfillment of the University’s objectives.” Academic freedom includes the freedom of an OHFA member “to disseminate her opinion(s) on any questions related to her teaching, professional activities, and research both inside and outside the classroom.” We believe that the exercise of academic freedom extends to social media postings and that the administration has an obligation to support OHFA members in the pursuit of research, creative and professional activities free of “interference or reprisal”.
The OHFA Executive endorses the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)’s letter to the Minister and Memorandum 23:41 “Academic Freedom in Times of Conflict,” as well as the statement on academic freedom and campus safety from the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA).
We take the position that, as stated by CAUT, “any institutional reprisal against or censorship of a member for expressing, within the law, their views on matters of public interest would violate their academic freedom.” Further, we share CAUT’s characterization of the Minister’s remarks as “a serious infringement on the principle of university autonomy.” The OHFA Executive holds steadfast to the view articulated by OCUFA that the Minister’s assertions are “antithetical to the academic mission of our universities.”We call on the administrations of Osgoode Hall Law School and York University to forcefully defend academic freedom, university autonomy and freedom of expression of staff and students by publicly denouncing the Minister’s statements and demanding an immediate retraction and public apology.
The OHFA Executive
Posted 2 March 2023
On 29 November 2022, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice declared that the 2019 Wage Restraint Act (“Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act”; formerly, Bill 124) violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and is “void and of no effect.” The Ford government is appealing that decision.
OHFA’s reopener clause (in the York University – OHFA Memorandum of Agreement signed 19 August 2022) reads as follows:
6. Letter of Understanding re Wage Reopener
The Parties hereby understand and agree that in the event that the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019 (“Bill 124”) is repealed, or successfully challenged through the courts such that it is of no force and effect and is not the subject of any ongoing appeal, during the term of the renewal collective agreement (i.e. at any point prior to June 30, 2025), the parties agree to re-negotiate the portions of those salary and compensation provisions of this collective agreement that were limited by Bill 124, but only to the extent permitted by law and having regard to the Employer’s financial position.
This Letter of Understanding will expire on June 30, 2025.
OCUFA – part of a coalition that launched a Charter challenge in 2020 – issued a public statement calling on Ontario universities to revisit collective agreements negotiated during the three-year moderation period. In addition, OCUFA highlights bargaining gains by Trent and Wilfred Laurier. In addition, Queen’s has recently ratified its collective agreement; QUFA is the first OCUFA member association to settle following the dismissal of Bill 124 without having served a moderation period.
Posted 8 July 2020
The following message is from the OHFA Executive:
On November 20, 2019, a student-sponsored event in Vari Hall featuring speakers from the Israeli military led to confrontations involving a number of (internal and external) groups seeking to have their views heard on the Israel-Palestine conflict. In the wake of this event, the administration commissioned an inquiry by former Supreme Court Justice Thomas A. Cromwell who was asked to address several issues of security and expression related to campus events.
One part of the Cromwell mandate was to examine “the University’s policies governing freedom of speech on campus.” This part of his report is of particular interest to OHFA, given that academic freedom is protected by Article 11 of the OHFA Collective Agreement.
As part of his general recommendation that “the University should develop a clear policy framework defining what constitutes racism, harassment and discrimination, particularly in relation to extra-curricular activities and conduct by student groups,” Mr. Cromwell noted that several organizations had urged the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism. At p. 46 he observed that draft legislation was before the Ontario legislature that, if enacted, would add this definition to the province’s Legislation Act; and further, that the University “should monitor the progress of this legislation and also consider the IHRA’s Working Definition as it develops its own statement on racism and discrimination.”
The IHRA working definition has been linked to a lobbying effort calling on governments, universities and other bodies to condemn and even to prohibit criticisms of the state of Israel as dangerous expressions of anti-Semitism. The OHFA Executive opposes anti-Semitism and all forms of racism and hatred. We view the adoption of the IHRA definition as a potential threat to academic freedom in that it could be used to restrict the academic freedom of teachers and scholars who have developed critical perspectives on the policies and practices of the state of Israel.
No university in Canada has adopted the IHRA working definition, and a number of problems associated with it in the Canadian context are reviewed in a recent opinion piece in University Affairs (https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/canadas-new-definition-of-anti-semitism-is-a-threat-to-campus-free-speech).
We therefore call on President Lenton to decline to promote the adoption of any definition of anti-Semitism or racism, including this one, that can be used to suppress academic freedom. Moreover, prior to adopting any statement on racism and discrimination that could have implications for academic freedom and expression, OHFA calls on the York administration to ensure that OHFA and other groups potentially affected be given the opportunity to participate in meaningful consultations.
We also wish to draw attention to a related matter involving our colleague Faisal Bhabha. On June 10, 2020. Prof. Bhabha participated in an online event organized by the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University, co- sponsored by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, at which the IHRA definition was debated; the video is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2964&v=YzfpmSe8R8M&feature=emb_title. On June 23, the Israel advocacy organization B’nai Brith wrote to President Rhonda Lenton demanding that Prof. Bhabha be prohibited from teaching courses in human rights as a result of the views expressed during the Ryerson event. The letter and petition can be found at https://www.bnaibrith.ca/petition_bar_faisal_bhabha. On the grounds of both university autonomy and academic freedom, such interference by outside bodies must be resisted in no uncertain terms. We call upon President Lenton to reply to this attack on our colleague in the strongest possible terms, and to release her reply publicly. This episode is a reminder of the perils associated with the adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.
Prof. Bhabha is a member of the OHFA executive, but this statement is made with respect to his rights as an OHFA member and a member of the York University community.
Posted 21 March 2018
As a gesture of support for CUPE 3903, which went on strike on 5 March, OHFA has provided a financial contribution. We hope for a fair, equitable, and speedy resolution.
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