FA Bargaining Update with FA Opening Statement
Dear Members,
I hope that all is well with you, and that end of term marking is not too intense. You will have received an email this week from Helga Hallgrimsdottir, Deputy Provost, about the collective bargaining between the senior administration and the Faculty Association. The administration does not usually communicate directly with our members about bargaining matters, but they have the right to do so.
We will of course also be providing our members with regular updates, with clear and accurate information about the progress of bargaining. Since February we have been engaging in several “pre-bargaining” meetings, with myself and Christine O’Bonsawin for the FA, and Helga Hallgrimsdottir and Pamela Richards, who are leading the bargaining for the administration. We met with the full teams on both sides for the first time yesterday. Information about the FA’s full team is available here. At our April 10th meeting we exchanged opening statements, and heard a number of relevant presentations, on the University budget, on how the University does costing of proposals for bargaining, and regarding the equity-related data that has been collected by the Equity and Human Rights Office (EQHR) through the Better Data Project. Four witnesses attended the opening bargaining session. These individuals were invited to observe opening statements made by the chief negotiators, offer reflections on what they heard, and are entrusted with remembering the commitments made by each side, including the promise to bargain in good faith and conduct negotiations in a good way.
FA negotiators are concerned by the administration’s desire to complete bargaining sooner than what the FA feels is in the best interests of our members. The FA and the University cannot complete an agreement, and cannot make any decisions about any element of the collective agreement with financial implications, until the provincial government announces its bargaining mandate. As you may recall from the last round of bargaining, this mandate is not finalized until one of the large public sector unions (last time it was the BCGEU) has completed bargaining. The information we have received from other large public sector unions is that none of them are close to settling with the government at this time, and no settlements may be achieved until the fall. As a result, we will bargain with our employer on non-monetary matters, and then may need to pause bargaining until a bargaining mandate is announced.
As we note in the FA’s opening statement:
FA negotiators are dedicated to representing the best interests of our members as we work in a good way to renew the Collective Agreement. The current Agreement is set to expire on June 30, but due to complexities and delays beyond our control in the provincial sector, bargaining will likely extend beyond this date. The negotiation process is intricate and should not be rushed. Therefore, FA negotiators are committed to remaining at the bargaining table until we achieve a Collective Agreement that serves the best interests of our members. Failing to do so would be a disservice to them.
The last round of bargaining was difficult, but in the end we were able to resolve issues successfully through mediation. We may well go to mediation again, and if so, we would probably go sooner than last time, but we sincerely hope that the University will allow the collective bargaining process to proceed in a good way for as long as necessary, so that we can achieve a positive outcome for our members. As you are aware, the current situation facing our members, in terms of workload, loss of autonomy and other urgent concerns outlined in our opening statement, need to be resolved both in the interests of our members and of the university, if UVic is to be the successful and flourishing institution it aspires to be.
As you know, the current economic situation is unsettled to say the least. While we hope that the agreements made by the larger public sector unions will help to move us towards a reasonable financial mandate from the provincial government, there are no guarantees. Your team will do the best we can for you in bargaining, but we also need you to show the administration that our members are behind us. Your active and visible support gives us power at the bargaining table.
The beginning of active bargaining, when we start to exchange substantive proposals with the administration, is on Thursday, May 1st. Our new FA membership engagement committee has organized a May 1st Collective Bargaining Kickoff. Details below. It would be great to see you there!
📢 May 1 Collective Bargaining Kickoff – Support Your FA Negotiation Team!
🗓 When: Thursday, May 1, from 12–1 PM
📍 Where: In front of the Library at the Fountain
👕 Attire: A white t-shirt, if possible, and grab an FA button when you get there.
We’ll have coffee and pastries available to fuel us as we come together. Whether rain or shine, we’ll be out there making our voices heard!
If you can RSVP to Sabrina at [email protected], that would be great, but either way we’d love to see you on May 1st.
Wishing you all the very best,
Lynne Marks
President, and Chief Negotiator, University of Victoria Faculty Association