UWOFA strongly supports PSAC 610 in starting a unionization drive for Graduate Student Assistants (GSAs) and Graduate Research Assistants (GRAs).

These two groups of graduate workers are not unionized and perform tasks beyond their workload.

We ask that you join the efforts of PSAC 610 in advocating to improve working conditions for GSAs and GRAs.

Please follow this link for more information: https://www.psac610.ca/unionizationdrive

We have prepared a report to outline Western’s current economic position. As you will see, Western has the money to reinvest in faculty and the academic mission, but they are choosing not to.

After two more days at the bargaining table, it’s clear that the Employer is not going to be moved to adequately recognize and reward faculty efforts without some additional pressure. Look for a message early next week outlining our next steps.

This report documents Western’s finances over the last 12 years, focusing on the four years since we negotiated our last Collective Agreement.

Welcome to the fall semester! Your Mobilization Committee and volunteers have been busy this week, connecting with students during O-Week events and the greater London community at the Labour Day picnic.

Updates on Negotiations 

Four bargaining meetings have taken place over the last two weeks.

Your Negotiating Committee continues to work to achieve an agreement that delivers improvements in the key thematic areas of our goals. There has been agreement on some proposals, but because negotiations started late, we have not been able to progress as much by September as we have in the past. The Employer has not shown receptiveness to most of our proposals on Workload and those for Part-Time Faculty, and they have not yet presented a full Compensation and Benefits proposal. We are working for:

• Fair workloads & improved job security;
• Equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization;
• Recognition and reward for faculty effort;
• Supports for faculty health and wellbeing;
• Protections and enhancements of collegial governance and due process.

Bargaining Information Meeting

Information meetings will be held (both in-person and virtually) on Monday, September 12th, where representatives from your Board of Directors and Negotiating Committee will be available to provide a detailed update and answer questions.

Upcoming Bargaining Meetings

As was reported in the last bulletin, bargaining meetings continue to be scheduled at regular intervals into the next month:

• September 13
• September 15
• September 21
• September 23
• September 28
• September 29
• October 4
• October 5
• October 6

What can you do?

• If you are currently teaching, talk to your students about bargaining. Faculty working conditions are their learning conditions, so they have a vested interest in many of our Bargaining goals. Some materials have been prepared for you to share in your classroom if you wish (a pdf or power-point slide which can be inserted in lecture materials if you use visual aids). Encourage students to follow UWOFA on social media and direct them to the student page of our website for regular updates.
• Attend one of the Bargaining Information meetings scheduled for Monday September 12th (in person or virtually) and encourage your colleagues to attend.
• Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer to make a short video expressing a message of support or highlighting how a particular bargaining goal impacts you personally. This video will then be posted to social media.
• If you want to get involved in building support for UWOFA bargaining goals, please contact Mobilization Chair, David Heap.

As members prepare for the fall semester and students begin to arrive on campus, your negotiating team at UWOFA is back at the bargaining table with the Employer.

Updates on Negotiations 

There were two bargaining meetings this week, on Tuesday, August 23rd and Thursday, August 25th. Conciliator Paul Pooler was present at both meetings. See Bargaining Bulletin Vol. 8, No. 7 for more information on conciliation. We have presented our proposals, and the Employer’s team has presented most of theirs.

Your Negotiating Committee is working hard to achieve an agreement that delivers improvements in the key thematic areas of our goals listed below:

• Fair workloads & improved job security;
• Equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization;
• Recognition and reward for faculty effort;
• Supports for faculty health and wellbeing;
• Protections and enhancements of collegial governance and due process.

Save the Date

Please take note in your calendars that information meetings will be held (both in-person and virtually) on Monday, September 12th, where representatives from your Board of Directors and Negotiating team will be available to provide an update and answer questions. These meetings will be 1-2 hours in length, depending on what transpires at the bargaining table before then. Start times will be:

9:30am in person, Room 290 – McKellar Theatre

1:30pm on Zoom (link to come)

Upcoming Meetings

We are pleased to report that a full calendar of meeting dates has been scheduled over the next 6 weeks (see below) and we look forward to making significant progress in this time.

• August 31
• September 2
• September 7
• September 8
• September 9
• September 13
• September 15
• September 21
• September 23
• September 28
• September 29
• October 4
• October 5
• October 6

Take Action 

Get loud on social media:

• Make sure to tag us! Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1; Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University; Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity

Send a letter or an email to the President and Provost (cc uwofa):

• uwofa@uwo.ca
• alan.shepard@uwo.ca
• provostvpa@uwo.ca

Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer to make a short video recording of yourself expressing a message of support, which would then be posted to social media.

If you want to get involved in building support for our UWOFA bargaining goals, please contact our Mobilization Chair, David Heap.

UWOFA supports Western’s recent announcement regarding Covid policies as we return to campus for the fall semester. Our priorities are to keep everyone safe and to minimize any disruption to teaching and learning which might result from widespread outbreaks.

While we applaud the decision to implement masking in instructional spaces, we encourage everyone to mask everywhere indoors that social distancing is not possible, and we will continue to advocate for broader indoor masking.

Classes begin in three weeks, and members are busy at work finalizing course outlines, but UWOFA is still waiting for confirmation regarding the Covid health protocols which will be in place on campus to keep our community safe.

The most recent announcement in June indicated that masks would no longer be required indoors at Western and the affiliated colleges, and UWOFA expressed its dismay at the premature lifting of that health protection. Mandatory masking has been one of the many important public health mitigations which have helped to keep our campus community safe, particularly when combined with high vaccination rates. UWOFA continues to advocate for mandatory indoor masking.

The pandemic is not over, as community spread levels are currently high in parts of the province. Pandemic deaths here in London this year are on track to exceed 2021 statistics, according to a July 28th report from the CBC.

According to Marylou Albanese, the MLHU’s director of environmental health and infectious disease control, “regardless of what people are doing and what the law requires, the MLHU is still recommending people regularly mask when outside their regular social circles, wash their hands and keep a safe distance from others in order to avoid spreading the virus.”

UWOFA supports this recommendation and encourages members to follow it.

Conciliation: Explainer

As you know, the UWOFA Board of Directors voted unanimously last week to file a request with the Ministry of Labour to appoint a conciliation officer to assist us with negotiations. It is the hope of the BOD and the negotiating team that this will help to ensure that a new collective agreement can be negotiated in a timely manner, particularly as only two days of meetings were scheduled before the summer break.

Conciliation is the next step in the collective bargaining process, whereby a third party can help the two sides reach an agreement.

What is Conciliation?

The Ontario Ministry of Labour appoints a facilitator who may act as a mediator between the two parties in order to try to reach a settlement. Your negotiating team believes that the request for conciliation will help focus discussions and support efforts to bring about an equitable settlement.

What is the role of a conciliator?

The role of the conciliator is to confer with both parties and endeavor to reach a collective agreement. The conciliator has no authority to impose a settlement.

The appointment of a conciliator does not signal an unwillingness to negotiate, nor is it a declaration of an impasse. In recent years, conciliation has been a normal part of collective bargaining. It is a service provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour at no cost and it is aimed at facilitating an agreement.

What’s next?

There are three paths to a collective agreement using conciliation services:

• The two parties could come to an agreement through conciliation.
• The parties could agree to continue with negotiations without third-party assistance after some conciliation sessions with the possibility of returning to conciliation at a later time.
• The conciliator could file a “no board” report if it’s determined that the two sides are unable to reach an agreement.

17 days after the conciliator files a “no board” report with the Ministry, a lockout or strike is legally possible. Your negotiating team continues to work hard at the table to achieve a fair and equitable collective agreement and defend the university’s core mission of quality teaching and research.

Take Action

While your team encourages everyone to enjoy their summer break, we ask that you continue to voice your concerns to keep the conversation going.

Get loud on social media:

• Make sure to tag us! Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1; Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University; Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity

Send a letter or an email to the President and Provost (cc uwofa):

• uwofa@uwo.ca
• alan.shepard@uwo.ca
• provostvpa@uwo.ca

Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer to make a short video recording of yourself expressing a message of support, which would then be posted to social media.

If you want to get involved in building support for our UWOFA bargaining goals, please contact our Mobilization Chair, David Heap.

**Please Note: There will be a pause in Bargaining Bulletins until late August when negotiations resume. Look for our next update the week of August 22nd.

UWOFA’s negotiating team met last Thursday and Friday with the administration’s team.

The team presented on your behalf a full overview of the extensive mandate it had prepared based on your input, addressing through 19 articles and 14 Letters of Understanding (LOU) (4 of them new) the following thematic areas:

• Support, Recognize and Reward Faculty Effort
• Support Faculty Health and Wellbeing
• Achieve Fair and Equitable Workloads
• Protect and Enhance Collegial Governance and Due Process
• Enhance Job Security for Contract Faculty
• Achieve Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization (EDID) and Just Representation

Your team also presented bargaining proposals for the following:

• Annual Performance Evaluation
• Professional Expense Reimbursement
• Compensation and Benefits
• Discipline
• Workload
• Appointments
• LOU Limited Duties Conversions
• LOU Teaching Scholars

In addition, UWOFA negotiators provided to the employer in electronic form the rest of the proposals it has been busy preparing over the past few months for which there was insufficient time in the two days of meetings to give a full presentation at the table.

The employer presented a document with brief notes on its goals for the 17 collective agreement articles it proposes to open, 8 of which UWOFA is also opening. The Employer also responded to UWOFA’s proposal on Annual Performance Evaluation.

*Further bargaining meetings are scheduled for August 23, 25, and 29 as well as September 2.

UWOFA Calls for Conciliation

While your negotiating team appreciates the constructive dialogue that is taking place at the table, it remains concerned about the consequences of delays for progressing to a timely agreement that it can take back to you, the membership.

Your team knows how hard you have worked in the unprecedented conditions of the past two years. To ensure timely progress towards the kind of agreement you deserve, the UWOFA Board of Directors have unanimously decided to call for conciliation, which means applying to the Ontario Ministry of Labour for the appointment of a conciliation officer to assist the parties in negotiating a collective agreement.

Please watch for a Bargaining Bulletin in the next few days for information on what conciliation entails.

Take Action

As we await further meetings in August, we ask for support in voicing your concerns to the Employer so we can work together for the best outcome for faculty, many of whom have been working overtime to adhere to the university’s mission of teaching and learning during the last two years of the pandemic.

Get loud on social media:

• Make sure to tag us! Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1; Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University; Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity

Send a letter or an email to the President and Provost (cc uwofa):

• uwofa@uwo.ca
• alan.shepard@uwo.ca
• provostvpa@uwo.ca

Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer to make a short video recording of you expressing a message of support, which would then be posted to social media.

If you want to get involved in building support for our UWOFA bargaining goals, please contact our Mobilization Chair, David Heap.

Our faculty collective agreement expired on June 30th. The Employer has yet to meet with your UWOFA negotiating team to begin bargaining for a new collective agreement, although dates have been set, see Bargaining Bulletin Vol. 8, No. 4.

Update on Negotiations 

Your UWOFA representatives met with the Employer last week for Indigenous faculty members side table discussions.

We look forward to collective bargaining discussions starting on July 14.

Bill 124 

As we get closer to negotiations, we wanted to take a closer look at Bill 124 and the role it plays in our faculty bargaining.

In 2019 the Ford government passed Bill 124 which limits compensation increases for all public sector employees, including Universities, post-secondary institutions, and colleges in Ontario.

The bill limits wage increases to a maximum of one percent total compensation each year for three years. This is effectively a salary cut, given current inflation rates.

This means negotiations during rounds of bargaining must be in line with the parameters set out by Bill 124.

But not everyone is affected by this bill.

Who’s affected?

Affected

• Every university, college, and post-secondary institution in Ontario
• Full-time and part-time faculty
• Most employee groups on campus

Not affected

• Senior administration
• Designated executives

What’s affected?

• Increases to base salary or base compensation rate (what we call “scale increase”) as well as “lump sum” increases, are limited to 1% per year for each of three years
• Increases to benefits are limited by the legislation, but negotiations at other universities have shown that there is still potential for significant improvements

Where might monetary gains be possible?

• Merit increases (e.g., experience premium for part-time faculty, performance-linked career progress and PLCP or “merit pay” for full-time faculty)
• Flex credits (allocated to Professional Expense Reimbursement, Health Care Spending Account, or Wellness Spending Account)

Take Action 

While your UWOFA negotiators will do their best to make sure faculty are properly compensated, Bill 124 will play a role in defining the parameters of what is possible.

We ask for your help in voicing your concerns to the Employer so we can work together for the best outcome for faculty, many of whom have been working overtime to adhere to the university’s mission of teaching and learning during the last two years of the pandemic.

Get loud on social media:

• Make sure to tag us! Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1; Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University; Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity

Send a letter or an email to the President and Provost (cc uwofa):

• uwofa@uwo.ca
• alan.shepard@uwo.ca
• provostvpa@uwo.ca

Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer who can make a short video recording of you expressing a message of support, which would then be posted to social media.

Negotiating teams from UWOFA and the Employer have agreed on meeting dates for the Indigenous faculty side table and for collective bargaining. We are looking forward to having constructive conversations.

Meeting dates

• June 29 – Initial meeting scheduled for the Indigenous faculty side table. This side table will continue its work in parallel with collective bargaining, focusing on, among other questions, improvements to the terms of the Letter of Understanding (LOU)* Indigenous Faculty Members signed in 2020 following a process formalized in the 2018 collective agreement.

*This LOU contains provisions to ensure appropriate recognition of the teaching, service, research, and scholarly and creative activity that is done by Indigenous Scholars. UWOFA acknowledges the hard work that Janice Forsyth and Brent Debassige have done in the development of the LOU. UWOFA’s team for the side table (Brent Debassige, Spy Denommé-Welch, and Jeff Tennant) will continue to engage with Indigenous faculty as this work proceeds. For more information on the LOU you can read an interview with Brent Debassige in the October 2020 issue of Faculty Times.

• July 14, 15 – Collective bargaining meetings scheduled between UWOFA and the administration
• August 23, 25, and 31 – Collective bargaining meetings scheduled
• September 2 – Collective bargaining meeting scheduled

Your Negotiating Committee is working hard to achieve an agreement that supports the key areas of our goals:

• Fair workloads & improved job security;
• Equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization;
• Support & recognition for faculty effort

Take Action 

While these are important first steps in talks between UWOFA and the Employer, we have a long way to go. We encourage you to continue to support the bargaining efforts by voicing concerns on social media or emailing President Shepard and Provost Strzelczyk (please CC UWOFA) about issues that matter to you, to keep the conversation going.

Social media:

• Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1; Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University; Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity

Email addresses:

• uwofa@uwo.ca
• alan.shepard@uwo.ca
• provostvpa@uwo.ca

June is Indigenous History Month. Check out the Biindigen’s Indigenous History Month Challenge 2022 site to learn something new and join in the #WesternUBiindigen 30-day Challenge!