August 15, 2026 – Unit 5 Bargaining Update #3

The Unit 5 Bargaining Committee (U5 BC) is getting set to return to the table with the Employer in September 2026 following a two-month pause. The U5 BC has met with the employer six times since April 2026 and has tabled a substantial package of non-monetary proposals, which are summarized in the Unit 5 Proposal Tracker. These proposals reflect the key bargaining priorities that Unit 5 members identified when they filled out their bargaining surveys (February-March 2026) and subsequently voted to approve the bargaining platform (April 2026). These priorities are (1) a thriving wage, (2) a respectful and dignified workplace, and (3) stable jobs and continuous growth.

In this bulletin, you can learn more about the current status of Unit 5 bargaining, how our bargaining proposals and priorities relate to the University’s recent “Postdoctoral Scholars Experience Survey,” and next steps for getting involved in the bargaining process.

The Current Status of Unit 5 Bargaining

Over the course of six bargaining sessions with the Employer between April and June 2026, the U5 BC has exchanged proposals with the Employer on non-monetary items. It is typical in the bargaining process to begin with the less contentious items before proceeding with more substantive and complex matters. As such, the U5 BC has yet to table any proposals related to salary, professional development and funds, benefits, or AI.

That said, the Unit 5 BC has already tabled several significant, high-priority proposals. Key to Unit 5’s prioritization of job stability, on June 15, 2026, the U5 BC put forward a proposal on Article 21 (Postings) to significantly increase the minimum length of postdoc contracts, currently set at only 12 months. And key to our priority on a respectful and dignified workplace, the U5 BC has tabled proposals on Article 23 (Office, Research, Laboratory Facilities) and Article 15 (Health and Safety). These propose improvements to the physical and digital working conditions of postdocs by providing office space, access to email and research software, and minimizing the risks of exposure to hazardous substances. The Employer has either not responded or has indicated disagreement with these proposals so far. The Employer has also implied that they view a postdoc as inherently precarious since it is a limited term job within a longer career trajectory.

The U5 BC is in the process of scheduling future bargaining sessions with the Employer and plans to return to the table in September 2026, following a two-month adjournment. To learn more about the exchange of bargaining proposals that has taken place to date, you can consult the Unit 5 Proposal Tracker or read our previous Bargaining Bulletins from May 2026 and July 2026.

Responding to the University’s Postdoc Experience Survey

While the Employer has displayed zero willingness to provide meaningful responses to any of our high-priority proposals thus far, the University’s recent “Postdoctoral Scholars Experience Survey” is a thinly veiled attempt to undercut the bargaining efforts of Unit 5 members.

Unlike the Unit 5 bargaining surveys, which provide Unit 5 members with a genuine opportunity to democratically shape the priorities and demands of this bargaining cycle, the University’s survey is something altogether different. It is at best an excessively long waste of time and at worst an attempt to obfuscate the valid concerns that Unit 5 members experience related to the cost-of-living crisis, insufficient salaries, a lack of financial supports, and the precarious nature of postdoc labour.

The good news is that many Unit 5 members are loudly and clearly expressing their frustrations with the University’s survey, as has been reported by Unit 5 Stewards. While there are countless issues with this survey, here are some of the main problems:

The Format of the Survey:

• A survey sent by and for the purposes of the boss does not enable a genuine, safe, or anonymous form of feedback from Unit 5 members;

• The excessive length and repetitive nature of the survey place an undue burden on the time of postdocs, which amounts to a flagrant disregard for the overwork that these workers are already facing;

• The survey (which will presumably be weaponized against the U5 BC at the bargaining table) does not address the fact that not all U of T postdocs are unionized or experiencing equal entitlements.

The Content of the Survey:

• The survey is entirely silent on the question of the minimum length of postdoc contracts, even though this is an active domain of bargaining negotiations and job stability is a top priority of Unit 5 members;

• The only question about the “overall satisfaction” of postdocs related to their “financial support” explicitly includes support “from all sources,” i.e., sources of income that are in addition to postdoc salaries;

• Even when cost-of-living matters (e.g., housing, food costs) are addressed in the survey, the framing is hyper-specific and confusing, and the wording appears bent on producing evidence that minimizes the severity of the financial pressures experienced by postdocs.

To expand upon some of these latter points, let’s focus on the exact wording. The survey asks:

“For the following statements, please indicate whether the statement was never true, sometimes true, or often true for you during your postdoctoral studies:

• I worried whether my food would run out before I got money to buy more.

• The food that I bought just didn’t last, and I didn’t have money to get more”

Crucially, this question ignores the distinction between being able to buy something and being able to afford something. Phrases like “got money” or “have money” ignore the reality of credit cards and separate the affordability concerns of postdocs from the question of whether wages are sufficient. If I buy my groceries using a credit card, I’ll still have food in my fridge regardless of how insufficient my wages are. And while the

University’s survey asks about student debt, it says nothing about garden-variety credit card debt. If you know anything about the history of the past 50 years, you’ll know that there has been a strong correlation between stagnating wages and over-reliance on credit cards to maintain a given standard of living.

As for Unit 5 members, if you feel like this survey fails to address your concerns about the cost of living or any other aspect of the postdoc experience, we encourage you to share your feedback and testimonials with the VP3, Isaac Thornley, at vp3@cupe3902.org, and the Unit 5 lead steward, Carrie Pratt, at u5leadsteward@cupe3902.org.

Next Steps and Get Involved!

Your Bargaining Committee’s strength at the negotiating table depends on your collective power as workers. There are many ways to stay in the loop and get more involved in your bargaining campaign to ensure a strong return to the table in the fall. The work of the U5 BC is part of a broader strategy of coordinated bargaining across the CUPE locals at the University of Toronto, bringing together academic workers, library workers, childcare workers, and service workers (including caretakers and cafeteria workers)!

The Unit 5 Bargaining Committee is currently welcoming applicants to fill existing vacancies. If you are interested in representing postdocs throughout the negotiation process and gaining hands-on experience with collective bargaining, please contact your VP3, Isaac Thornley, at vp3@cupe3902.org.

You can also engage with the bargaining process by:

• Reading these updates,

• Talking to your coworkers and Unit 5 stewards,

• Attending info sessions, and

• Joining union membership meetings.

If you want to get more involved in building worker power across UofT, reach out to your Unit 5 lead steward, Carrie Pratt, at u5leadsteward@cupe3902.org