Bargaining 2012 Updates
Bargaining Blog
Arbitration Briefs Exchanged
On May 8, 2013 the Faculty Association and the University exchanged their formal submissions with each other, and with the Arbitrator, Colin Taylor. The actual arbitration will take place on June 3-5, 2013. The two parties have submitted final proposals on all outstanding issues. Each submission comprises both a brief (UBCFA and UBC) and a book of supporting evidence. Read more.
Arbitration Rescheduled – The Real Story
Message from Nancy Langton, UBCFA President
Members will recall that the Association and UBC were scheduled to begin five days of mediation-arbitration this week. Unfortunately, the Arbitrator, Colin Taylor, became ill and had to cancel the dates at the last moment. This was a very disappointing development, but clearly not one either party had any control over. Read more.
Report on Further Negotiations
Last week the University contacted the Association and suggested they were prepared to make a new offer in the week of December 10. Although we started meeting with the University at the beginning of the week, unfortunately, it turned out that they were not, in fact, prepared to make an offer until today. The University tabled an across-the-board (ATB) offer of 1.95% and 1.90%. Read more.
Recent Salary Settlements at Comparator Universities
One of the primary objectives of this round of bargaining is to bring our salaries back in line with those of other Canadian universities of comparable academic quality and size. Faculty at UBC have suffered from two consecutive years in which they have received no across-the-board (ATB) increases in salary. During the same period faculty at virtually every other comparable university have enjoyed salary increases – in some cases very large salary increases. Read more.
UBC offers 0.4% for 2012, the Faculty Association Declines
The Faculty Association and the University had set aside this week (October 22-26) to continue negotiations towards a new Collective Agreement. Both parties had hoped that an agreement could be reached at this time, but unfortunately the parties are still far apart on a number of issues, key among which is the Across-the-Board (ATB) salary settlement. The University has offered an ATB salary increase of 0.4% on July 1, 2012, 0.4% on January 1, 2013 and 0.4% for July 1, 2013. Coming on the heels of two years of zeros their offer amounts to an increase of 1.2% over 4 years for our members. In the same time period, faculty at the University of Toronto received ATB increases of over 9%, not including improvements in benefits and other cost items. Read more.
Faculty Salaries at UBC and Elsewhere
In May 2012 Maclean’s magazine published an article comparing median faculty salaries at Canadian universities for 2010/2011. The data were provided by Statistics Canada’s Centre for Education Statistics through the University and College Academic Staff Survey. According to the report, the University of Toronto paid the highest salaries in Canada. No surprise there. Second and third place, respectively, went to Queen’s University and McMaster University. Read more.
Bargaining Resumes
After a long hiatus over the summer, negotiations between the Faculty Association and the University have resumed. As we noted in our June 28 blog, our intention was to set arbitration dates before resuming. The parties have agreed on a date for binding interest arbitration with arbitrator Colin Taylor. Arbitrator Taylor will hear arguments the week of February 4, 2013. As part of the process of interest arbitration both parties will make written submissions to the Arbitrator who will, if necessary, provide an award that settles all outstanding issues. Read more.
Negotiations on Hiatus until October
When negotiations between UBC and the Faculty Association began on February 14, the parties set the third week in June as the date when we would take a hiatus, if necessary. This is standard procedure and the date has no particular significance other than being the date after which conflicting travel and work schedules of the negotiating teams made scheduling meetings impossible. At the time negotiations began both parties felt there would be sufficient time to conclude an agreement before the hiatus. Read more.
Workload
We are hearing increasingly from faculty who are concerned with the rising demands placed on them, especially with respect to teaching and service, and with the way workload is managed in their units. They are rightly concerned about how these demands impact their capacities to carry on their research and other scholarly activities. This has led to the proposals we recently tabled. Read more.
Contract Academic Staff
We have two general types of members who teach: those who are tenure stream and those on term contracts of one type or another. How many of our members are contract faculty? A lot more than many people realize. Read more.
Guest Blog: Equity for All
The University of British Columbia Faculty Association, echoing the Canadian Association of University Teachers, recognizes the importance of securing equity for all members of our bargaining group. The Faculty Association aspires to take a leadership role in realizing equity by negotiating a full equity provision in the Collective Agreement. The goal of a commitment to equity is the achievement of an inclusive and fair workplace in which all are accorded equal recognition and respect. This issue is, of course, key for members of marginalized groups disproportionately excluded from full participation in the academy. Read more.
Progress Through the Ranks Increases
The salary structure of every university in Canada comprises, to a greater or lesser extent, two major components; across-the-board increases (ATB, previously discussed), and progress through the ranks (PTR), which at UBC is also called the career advancement plan (CAP). If across-the-board increases keep pace with inflation and with salaries at other major universities, the structure of the PTR scheme will determine the ratio of salaries at retirement to starting salaries. Unfortunately ATB increases have not kept up over the last couple of decades, contributing to salary compression. Read more.
Guest Blog: University's Parental Leave Proposal
I have been reading over the University's bargaining proposals as posted on the Faculty Association website. I am writing to express my significant concern with the University's proposal #6, Maternity / Parental / Adoptive Leave During Pre-Tenure Period. As outlined on the website, the University proposes that the parental leave policy as it affects the tenure clock be changed such that leaves of less than 15 weeks do not result in extending the tenure clock by one year. Read more.
Minimum Scales for Sessional Faculty
In 2010, one of our bargaining proposals was for a unified minimum salary scale for all sessionals. We have this as one of our bargaining objectives this year as well. Here is the rationale we provided to the members in 2010. Read more.
Salaries at Comparator Institutions
What is our primary objective in looking at a salary increase for 2012-2014? Our primary objective is to achieve a sufficient across-the-board (ATB) salary increase to protect the entire salary structure of our members from the effects of inflation, and to ensure that salaries at UBC maintain pace with salaries at other Canadian universities of comparable academic quality and size. Read more.
The University's Bargaining Proposals
On February 14 the Association and the University met for the first time for the current round of Collective Bargaining. During this meeting the Parties exchanged proposals and provided a general overview of the problems the proposals are intended to solve, or the objectives they are meant to accomplish. Below we review some of the University’s proposals to give you an idea of what the University hopes to achieve in this round of bargaining. Read more.
Bargaining: How the Process Unfolds
Negotiating for a new Collective Agreement began in earnest on February 14, when the Faculty Association proposals and the University proposals were exchanged. The Parties met six times in February and March, and have five additional dates set to continue negotiations in April and May. At this time each party has, with two exceptions, provided detailed explanations of what their objectives are and have produced proposed Collective Agreement language that they think will meet their objectives. Read more.
What Should We Bargain?
Upcoming contract negotiations begin in early 2012, but right now, we want to hear from you! Come to the Faculty Association's face-to-face consultations and tell us what you think. The Association is coming to your area of campus to hear your issues and answer your questions. Read more.
call for volunteers
In preparation for the 2012 round of negotiations with the University, the Faculty Association is seeking applications for volunteers for the Bargaining Preparation Committee and the Bargaining Advisory Committee. Read more.
Last modified: May 10, 2013
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