Librarians & Archivists: Bargaining Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 20

With the fall term beginning soon, many Librarians and Archivists are preparing materials for teaching or in support of faculty teaching. Please read on for UWOFA’s advice for how to manage this work in the event of a potential labour disruption. This bulletin also includes some reminders about upcoming events we would really like to see you come out for.

UWOFA-LA Members

Please continue to prepare your materials but we encourage you to avoid sharing your materials with colleagues outside of UWOFA-LA in case we end up in a labour disruption. We also encourage you to inform faculty partners about your decision to wait until immediately before an affected class to share any materials and ask that they share this rationale with the students. You can find helpful presentation slides and more here.  

You can additionally share your rationale with UWOSA colleagues who might be supporting your teaching work. Please let them know that they are not expected to teach in your absence. If, however, they are directed to do so by managers outside of UWOFA-LA, they should comply and communicate the request to UWOSA. By avoiding pre-sharing of materials, we can help our UWOSA colleagues to better navigate such a request.  

In the specific case of pulling physical materials, you may want to consider protecting such materials with a code that only you know, making it more challenging for these materials to be used in your absence. 

If you have questions or would like support, please reach out to Kim Carson (kim.carson@uwo.ca) from Teaching & Learning.

UWOFA Faculty Members

As you can see above, we are advising UWOFA-LA members to avoid sharing teaching materials with faculty and students until immediately before they are required. In this way, they are protecting their intellectual property and also reducing the need for others to decide whether to teach a class in their absence. Please support our UWOFA-LA colleagues by communicating with your students about the current state of negotiations with the UWOFA-LA Bargaining Unit.  

If you have concerns about the impact of potential labour disruption on you or your students, please share them with UWO President Alan Shepard (president@uwo.ca) and Board of Governors Chair Keith Gibbons (kgibbon5@uwo.ca) and copy UWOFA. 

See below and visit our Take Action page for more ways to support our Librarian and Archivist colleagues in their fight for a fair contract. You can also find past bargaining bulletins here if you are unclear about the current state of bargaining and the remaining issues. 

Upcoming Events: Please come!

We return to negotiations next week, as our first day of conciliation coincides with the first day of undergrad classes on September 7th. As we gear up to return to the table, we would like to invite you again to the following events:

• • Friday, September 1st – L&A Social at the Grad Club, 2pm start
    • This is an opportunity for colleagues to reconnect as we head into the fall
  • Monday, September 4th (Labour Day) – London and District Labour Council picnic, 12-4pm at East Lion’s Park
    • Join UWOFA at East Lions Park (1731 Churchill Avenue) to celebrate the achievements of workers. Look for the UWOFA flags and table! Bring the whole family! Labour Day is a day to celebrate the accomplishments of the labour movement and the benefits of having a union at work.
    • We will be sharing material with the public about Librarian and Archivist bargaining. 

• O-Week info pickets – beginning September 7th and 8th

• • UWOFA’s Librarians and Archivists are fighting for fair compensation, adequate staffing and recognition for their professional status.  These things are necessary for a high class library system at Western. 
  • Help us spread the word to faculty, staff and students on campus. Please reach out to David Heap (djheap@uwo.ca) to sign up for a short shift.

We will be holding a Bargaining Information Meeting for L&A Members and the UWOFA Board on September 13th, from 2:00 – 3:00 pm in Taylor Library (there will be an option to attend remotely, Zoom link to come next week).