On October 29 2025, CUPE 1281 filed an unfair labour practice (ULP) complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) against the York University Faculty Association (YUFA).

The complaint argues that YUFA has failed to bargain in good faith with its staff, in contravention of the Ontario Labour Relations Act.

The crux of the issue is about what is called ‘scope’, i.e. who is covered by the collective agreement and benefits from union representation.

Throughout bargaining, YUFA sought changes to the Collective Agreement that would take work out of the bargaining unit. The employer’s goal is to hire an Executive Director outside of the bargaining unit, explicitly so that this non-union position could take over work regularly performed by staff without any restrictions.

Since August, YUFA made clear they would not bargain with the union unless these changes were agreed to, despite the fact that the Labour Board has long established that “it is a violation of the duty to bargain in good faith to bargain to the point of an impasse a proposal relating to the scope of the bargaining unit.”

While YUFA has withdrawn its proposal to explicitly change the scope clause, YUFA continues to push for proposals that would in effect create “non-bargaining unit positions doing bargaining unit work,”.

If YUFA “did not believe that the creation of these positions required effective amendments to the scope, YUFA would not have insisted on all of the various components of the Scope Proposal. It would have simply created these positions,” as the filing further explains.

The union has engaged with the employer’s stated concerns by providing counter-proposals to keep work inside the CUPE 1281 bargaining unit. YUFA rejected the union’s proposals and continued to demand the creation of positions that violate the scope of the bargaining unit. For a labour union to engage in such anti-worker behaviour is shameful and contrary to their stated commitments.

Given YUFA’s ongoing refusal to meaningfully bargain, CUPE 1281 had no choice but to commence a strike on October 27, 2025.

YUFA staff remain on strike to protect job security and prevent work from leaving the bargaining unit, and to secure protections against harassment and discrimination and improve staff health and safety.