College Faculty bargaining update: Faculty have a better plan for our colleges

Bargaining Bulletin 14:

After nearly five months at the bargaining table, one thing rings clear: any plan that carries us forward will be shaped by faculty proposals, not imposed by the CEC.

On October 28th, we tabled a comprehensive offer of settlement [PDF file]. While our side showed significant movement on key issues, the CEC maintained all but one of their 30+ original concessions. Allowing these concessions to hold will begin a race to the bottom, where all of us will take a hit on our paycheck, our job security, and the rights and protections we’ve won in previous rounds.

Faculty can’t afford a contract that forces us backwards, especially not now. It matters that we hold fast behind our proposals – it matters for our collective futures and the survival of our division.

Click here to see how faculty’s plan stacks up against the CEC’s response!

We continue to prepare our mediation brief for Mediator William Kaplan, who is scheduled to conduct mediation between the parties on December 6-8. By way of a reminder: although we have secured a strong strike mandate, both sides have agreed not to escalate pending the results of mediation. A “no-board report” – which can be requested by either party, initiating a strike or lockout position – has not been requested.

On December 9th, the no-escalation agreement may be renewed by both sides or it can be left to expire, depending on whether progress is made during mediation.

The bargaining landscape is far from an even plane. Despite signing a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which includes the agreement between parties not to escalate, the College Employer Council (CEC) and several Colleges appear to be implementing their proposed concessions (e.g  the removal of asynchronous course hours).

In addition, several Colleges are placing employment security at risk through what amounts to “constructive layoffs” – where hours of work are reduced or eliminated – of partial-load members and by making direct threats of full-time faculty lay-offs. At some colleges, College Employment Stability Committees (CESC) have been called to plan for full-time layoffs, and emails from College Presidents to employees are loudly projecting revenue decreases and reduced student enrolment to justify their course of action.  All the while, to echo union leaders at St. Lawrence College, “while staff are being asked to find efficiencies, the expansion of high-salary, non-student-facing management positions stands in stark contrast.

We are exploring every tool available to respond to what amounts to a bold, egregious austerity attack on workers. The CEC and the Colleges will use this moment to try and divide us, to erode the power we build through unity, to pit workers against each other, and to fracture solidarity. It’s the oldest playbook, with an equally tested, tried, and true antidote – workers must stand together.

We will not blink: especially in the face of an employer ready to cry poor after raking in record profits year after year. Protecting the fabric of quality, public education starts with resourcing faculty on the frontlines. We are in a defining moment – and as members made abundantly clear, we are prepared to stand together.

In solidarity,

Your CAAT-A Bargaining Team:

Ravi Ramkissoonsingh, L242, Chair (he/him)
Michelle Arbour, L125, Vice-Chair (she/her)
Chad Croteau, L110 (he/him)
Bob Delaney, L237 (he/him)
Martin Lee, L415 (he/him)
Sean Lougheed, L657 (he/him)
Rebecca Ward, L732 (she/her)

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