The MUNFA Negotiating Committee met with the administration’s team on Thursday, September 20thand Friday, September 21st. During this round of talks under conciliation the parties discussed/exchanged Articles 3, 17, 18, 19 and 26.
Discussion on Article 3 (Duties and Responsibilities of Faculty Members) took up most of the time. The parties were able to reach agreement on a new process for establishing course-equivalencies on a more collegial and university-wide basis. The administration brought forward a new clause for this article concerning performance reviews/post-tenure review. We will respond to this proposal when we next meet.
The parties reached agreement on Articles 17 and 18 (Librarian – tenure-track appointments, tenure, procedures and criteria).
The parties made some progress on Article 26 (Miscellaneous Working Conditions) and Article 19 (Disciplinary Measures and Non-disciplinary Relief from Duties).
While there was more substantive, and timely, discussion of issues by the administration during this round, we are concerned that many of MUNFA’s crucial concerns about intellectual property (Article 27), contingent labour (Article 23), leaves (Article 22), and banked time (Article 31) have not been meaningfully discussed.
The administration’s latest bargaining update notes that they wish to defer discussion on a strike protocol, which would govern a number of critical issues on campus in the event of a work stoppage (e.g., pension and benefits, status of ASMs on leave, attending to animal care and sensitive equipment). Instead they say they “remain optimistic that we may come to agreement.”
We do not believe that this paints a realistic picture: progress has been at a snail’s pace (10 months); many critical issues have not been discussed; and we have been in conciliation since July. We realize that a strike would be very disruptive to students and the wider university community. We hope to avoid this possibility but the unwillingness to negotiate a strike protocol is typical of how this university is managed – delay, obfuscate and then go into crisis management mode.
The next three days of conciliation have been set for October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. We sincerely hope that the remaining substantive issues are discussed and we make more meaningful progress in getting a new collective agreement.
MUNFA’s Negotiating Committee:
- Jon Church (Chief Negotiator), Medicine
- Alison Coffin, MUNFA Executive Officer (non-voting)
- Dan Duda, Library
- George Jenner, Earth Sciences
- Kurt Korneski, History
- Leroy Murphy, Business
- Dave Peddle, Grenfell Campus
- Nathalie Pender, Grenfell Campus
- Nicole Power, Sociology
- Richard Rivkin, Ocean Science
