Your union strongly encourages your participation in Monday’s ratification vote and asks for your support of this negotiated settlement.
Please read the Collective Agreement Amendments document that outlines the changes to our collective agreement under this settlement.
As you can see, it is a short read. There are two significant changes:
1. Improved job security for partial load faculty:
Partial load faculty who are currently under contract, or who have been within the last 6 months, will be given priority hiring rights for new contracts. There are certain conditions that must be met, so we especially encourage all non-full time faculty to read the article carefully. Note also that non-full time faculty member will have to be vigilant in watching for job postings:
… partial-load faculty need to monitor the programs and courses closely at the start of the term to determine if there is an assignment they are entitled to be given priority for in hiring.
–Bargaining Team comment to Article 26.10 D (new)
2. Clarification of the coordinator role:
This is a significant gain for our members. As you well know, our local has been in a prolonged disagreement with college administration over their refusal to provide a list of the duties a coordinator is expected to perform. The amendment to Article 14.03 A adds the following language (underlined):
Coordinators report to the academic manager who assigned their specific duties, which shall be determined prior to the acceptance of the designation, subject to changes as circumstances require. It is understood that coordinators do not have responsibility for the supervision or for the disciplining of teachers in the bargaining unit
This is a big step forward in our fight to define coordinator duties and put an end to the too frequent overwork of the dedicated faculty who fill this role.
Why should I vote to ratify this contract?
Ted Montgomery, co-chair of the negotiating team, described this round as “defensive bargaining”, meaning that most of the team’s time and energy was devoted to fighting against concessions and takeaways, most notably the “Nursing Clinical Facilitator” proposal. Add to that management’s flat out refusal to even discuss most of the union proposals, and it was clear that making major gains through negotiations was not going to happen in this round.
So why settle? Well, the team was very aware of the current government’s stated intent to legislate contracts for the province’s teachers, contracts that included significant concessions in salary and sick leave benefits. They felt there was a real possibility that rejecting this “status quo” contract would result in an even worse deal being forced on us. Watch your bargaining team explain it themselves:
On Monday, September 10th, we ask that you support your union and bargaining team and vote to ratify this agreement.