It has recently come to the attention of the striking staff at the York University Faculty Association (YUFA) that they received their regular pay on November 12. Staff received this payment despite being on strike for job security, stronger protections from harassment and discrimination, and to protect unionized work at YUFA.

Given YUFA’s history of blaming their staff for their own mistakes, we feel it unfortunately necessary to state publicly that the union promptly informed the employer, via the government-appointed conciliator, of their mistake.

Payroll, among other financial transactions, is a well-established automatic process that has been in place for years, with which YUFA’s Treasurer is very familiar. It was the executive’s responsibility to pause these payments.

It is also worth noting that this kind of inattention to YUFA’s fiduciary duties towards its members is exactly why we continue to have serious concerns about the employer’s plan to hire expensive managers, as that plan has not been realistically costed. They have not yet explained to CUPE 1281 or to YUFA’s membership how they plan to pay for the two additional positions without laying off the current unionized staff.