Bargaining Bulletin #12

Still waiting for employer’s response on monetary proposals

Dear colleagues:

Dear members: We were hoping to have news today about the employer’s response to the CFA’s monetary proposals. Unfortunately, the employer cancelled the meeting originally set for today, so we won’t meet with them until the morning of Tuesday, 5 September.

We have been waiting for the employer’s response to our revised monetary proposals since we first tabled them on 29 May. These proposals are simplified versions of proposals we tabled at the start of negotiations on 30 January. They include restoring the value of our benefits and other benefits improvements; fairer scale placement for non-regular faculty; removal of unreasonable secondary pay rates for some faculty; and funding for research and scholarship. We expected a response on 1 June, but the employer cancelled that meeting. Then in our meetings on 5, 26, and 29 June the employer advised it was still not ready to respond.

On 29 June the employer’s representative led us to expect a written response during the summer, on which we could work together in the next bargaining meeting. We did not receive this response. Nor has the employer provided the financial information we need to do a thorough cost evaluation of proposals.

We have advised the employer that we expect a substantive response to our monetary package when we meet with its committee on 5 September.

We have already reached agreement on several of the CFA’s “non-cost” proposals, and there are several more non-cost proposals on which we are close to agreement. The monetary package is the main item remaining--but of course it is a significant one. We remain hopeful that the employer’s delay is due to its analysis of the cost of these proposals, relative to the pool of money the B.C. government is providing colleges and universities for cost items.

We hope to have better news for you after the meeting on 5 September.

In solidarity,

Bargaining Committee members Tim Acton, Doug Alards-Tomalin, Eduardo Azmitia, Michael Begg, and FPSE representative Monica Staff