Librarians & Archivists: Bargaining Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 19

Please read through this bulletin carefully as it contains important updates. 

Conciliation News

Paul Pooler has been appointed as conciliator for our negotiations by the Ministry of Labour. Conciliators are third party neutrals to the bargaining process with a focus on getting the parties to a settlement. UWOFA and the Employer have experience working with Mr. Pooler, who acted as a conciliator in the last round of faculty bargaining in 2022 and in the 2019 round of L&A bargaining. The parties have confirmed four conciliation dates for September: 

• Full days on September 7, 12 and 15 
• Half day on September 21

UWOFA looks forward to working with Mr. Pooler as we continue to seek a fair monetary settlement, adequate staffing levels and proper recognition of the professional status and expertise of Librarians and Archivists at Western. 

The Gap Widens for L&As

We must be particularly vigilant in fighting for a fair collective agreement in light of the recent gains of other institutions, some of which we already reported on last week. The gap continues to widen for Librarians and Archivists as more settlements are reached correcting the legislative injustice of Bill 124.

OPSEU members in the college sector now have a Bill 124 reopener deal which  adds 6.5% to their three-year deal. Instead of 1%, 1%, 1% over 2021-2024 they will receive 3%, 3%, and 3.5%, with additional improvements to their benefits. This means that the college sector effectively did not serve a moderation period. 

Support Resources

In addition to the resources we have already shared (Zoom backgrounds, social media profile pictures, lecture slides) we have now created a customizable email signature you can use, which invites readers to support Western Librarians and Archivists, while also including clickable links to UWOFA social media pages. This signature is available in a Word document – you will need to copy it and paste and save it into your e-signature using the Outlook settings for your UWO email account. 

Upcoming Events: We need you!

These events are an opportunity for members to spend time together in solidarity and to mobilize campus and community support for current bargaining efforts. Every voice matters as we try to convince our Employer to do the right thing. 

Please save the date for an L&A end of summer gathering at the Grad Club on Friday September 1st, at 2pm. All are welcome!

Please come! UWOFA will have a table at the London and District Labour Council Labour Day picnic which will be held on Monday September 4th from 12 noon-4pm at East Lion’s Park. Bring the whole family for food, drink and scheduled programming!

Strike Action Preparation 

Calling all Volunteers! The Strike Action Committee (SAC) is still recruiting. Contact co-chairs Christy Sich (csich@uwo.ca) or Laura Cayen (lcayen2@uwo.ca) if you are interested in being part of these important preparations.

We are also looking for people to hand out flyers during O-Week. Please contact Mobilization Chair David Heap (djheap@uwo.ca) if you can help with a shift.