• CUPE 3903 Unit 1 Bargaining Survey

  • This is a 15-minute survey of CUPE 3903 members in Unit 1 (Teaching Assistants, other teaching done by full-time graduate students). It will ask you about your experience of working at York University.


    The results of the survey will inform the bargaining proposals that will be presented to the union membership for discussion and approval in the Winter term of 2026. The final proposals will be presented to York University (“the Employer”) when bargaining begins in the summer of 2026. The current collective agreement expires on August 31, 2026.


    All information collected will be treated as strictly confidential by the Bargaining Team and the Executive Committee, who will all have signed confidentiality agreements before accessing it. To ensure you receive up-to-date communications during bargaining, your contact information will be retained, but it will not be linked to your responses. 


    We hope you answer as many questions as possible but you can skip individual questions if you like. Please complete the survey once you have started it. If you need to restart the survey or have other problems, please contact the Bargaining Team at bargaining@cupe3903.org. For bargaining to succeed, we need a full and accurate picture of CUPE 3903's needs and priorities, so please share the survey with other members!

  • Bargaining Priorities

  • Wages, Benefits, Standards of Living

  • Notes:

    • As of November 2025, consumer prices in Ontario increased by 2.2% over the past year. This is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks the cost of shelter, food, transportation and other living expenses.
    • 2020-2025 average annual wage increase in Ontario for Teaching Assistants and Sessional Instructors: 2.65%. This does not include any increases to academic funding for graduate students.
    • 2020-2025 average annual wage increase in CUPE 3903 units 1, 2, 3: 2.97%
    • 2020-2025 cumulative increase to consumer prices in Ontario: 20.68%
    • 2020-2025 cumulative Ontario wage increases (TAs and Sessionals): 16.52%. This does not include any increases to academic funding for graduate students.
    • 2020-2025 cumulative wage increases in CUPE 3903 units 1, 2, 3: 19.16% (loss of 1.52% to inflation).

  • Working Conditions

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity, Grievance Officer, and Joint Health and Safety Committee are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • Equity, Discrimination, and Harassment

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • 21. In your view, is there evidence that York University cares about equity issues in the workplace, such as:

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • If you would prefer to talk about this matter, our 3903 Staff Representative Equity and Grievance Officer are here to support you. You can contact them by email (equity@cupe3903.org or grievance@cupe3903.org).

  • Additional Information

  • Demographic Information

    We are asking about self-identification to help us understand the barriers members currently face and bargain for or introduce initiatives, policies, and programs that can address the harms that result from them.

  • *A cisgender person is someone whose internal sense of gender aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

    ** A trans person is someone who identifies as transgender, transsexual, genderqueer, intersex, two-spirit, non-binary, and gender variant, among others. 

  • Contact Information

    We’d love to keep in touch. Please share your contact info. This information will be anonymized/disaggregated from the rest of your responses.
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