Bargaining Bulletin #6
Note on e-mail from Kartik Bharadwa
Yesterday, 14 March, VP Kartik Bharadwa sent an email to all University employees. His e-mail provided partial information about collective bargaining between the University administration and the CFA, your faculty union.
This e-mail is unfortunate, since it appears to be an attempt by the administration to negotiate directly with members, outside of the negotiations table. We signed a protocol agreement with the administration that states the parties will only negotiate at the table. In fact, the administration insisted on this protocol rule. The e-mail from Kartik Bharadwa is surprising. We have asked him not to do this again.
Kartik’s e-mail offers three “highlights” from bargaining. Your bargaining committee has already updated members on these items. But since he has sent this e-mail, we will respond to each.
Three-year term: As with all the public sector unions, the agreement we are negotiating is for three years. The government sets this timeline. As always, when the term expires (in April 2025), the new collective agreement will continue to be in effect until we negotiate a replacement.
Salary increases: The wage increases Kartik lists are simply the increases the government has given to all employers in our sector for their employees. The CapU administration has offered nothing more than what the government has given. We have proposed increases that would begin to restore the lost real-dollar value of our wages. We have done the same for benefits. And we have proposed paid research work. So far, the administration has not responded to our financial proposals.
Collegial model: You can read the CFA’s last three bargaining bulletins for information on this subject, and attend the general meeting on 21 March, 11:30 a.m. (Zoom link). Bargaining bulletin #3 included the full text of the employer’s proposals (also linked below). Among other things, they want to delete the collegial decision-making model (article 2.8), remove the core component of the “collegial model” in article 2.5, and minimize the role of the CFA in supporting and representing faculty.
In place of our collegial model, the administration wants deans (and other administrators) to make all the decisions about faculty work, after “endeavouring” to consult faculty, using the consultation method (if any) of the dean’s choice. They also want to give deans the power to evaluate and remove co-ordinators. Coordinators do not currently represent the administration; they do not report to deans. Coordinators (and chairs) lead departmental consultative decision-making and represent the departments to the administration. In short, these proposals would flip the decision-making model. Yet Kartik Bharadwa describes these proposals as consistent with a commitment to a “collaborative relationship between faculty and administration.”
The bargaining committee interprets the administration’s proposals as an attack on the collegial model. And we are concerned that Kartik’s e-mail on 14 March is an attempt to “divide and conquer” members. We hope that is not his intent. We encourage you to read the administration’s and the CFA’s actual proposals (linked again below). And please attend your CFA general meetings to ask questions and discuss negotiations.
Note on MoveUP negotiations
We would also like you to be aware of the status of negotiations involving our colleagues in MoveUP. The staff union has been negotiating with the University administration since late last spring (during which time the administration did not send bulletins like the one Kartik sent yesterday). This past week the MoveUP talks reached impasse, and their members are now discussing a strike vote. You can read background on MoveUP negotiations at their website.
CFA proposals: List | Full text | Decolonization proposal (tabled 23 Feb)
Employer proposals, including wages and collegial model
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to email a member of your Faculty Association bargaining committee.
In Solidarity, Michael Begg (Chief Bargainer), Douglas Alards-Tomalin, Tim Acton, Monica Staff (FPSE staff representative), Eduardo Azmitia: CFA President (ex officio)