Legal Decisions

While the vast majority of disputes can be resolved informally or at local levels of the grievance procedure, there are occasions on which the Faculty Association has to take issues to a third party to be resolved. The resulting decisions have the force of law and bind both the University and the Association in future dealings.

Most frequently, we take these issues to a Labour Arbitrator appointed under the BC Labour Relations Code. Arbitration decisions are important because they interpret the provisions of the Collective Agreement and clarify the rights of our members. They set standards and models which hold for our members and which sometimes set precedents for other Canadian university faculty as well (the Bryson case is a good example).

In addition to arbitrations, the Faculty Association sometimes has to take matters to the courts, either to appeal an Arbitration decision or because the matter falls or may fall outside an Arbitrator’s jurisdiction. An example of this is the Faculty Association’s case at the BC Court of Appeal regarding the authority of the Senate to create policies which override our collective-agreement rights.

The following is a partial list of arbitrations and documents related to other legal proceedings handled by the Association since voluntary recognition under the BC Labour Code in 2000. For more information on these or any other rulings, please contact the Association.

The last type of legal proceeding in which the FA may become involved are Section 12 complaints filed by members at the BC Labour Relations Board. These complaints allege that the Union has not met its duty of fair representation. More information on these complaints is available at the end of the list below.

Lecturers Excellence Test Arbitration
May 23rd, 2022

BETWEEN
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
(the “University”)
-and-
FACULTY ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
(the “Faculty Association”)
(Lecturers Grievance)

Link to Decision

Award Appointment of Associate Deans to Various Committees
Award Issued October 2021
Sessional Faculty
Updated November 2018
Supplemental Award (Steven Galloway Arbitration)
September 25, 2018
Summary Award (Steven Galloway Arbitration)
June 18, 2018
Payment of Retroactive Salary Increases
Arbitration Decision, January 20, 2017
Policy Grievance - Contributions to Pensions
Student Evaluations of Teaching
Senior Instructor's Tenure Policy
UBC Okanagan
Mary Bryson/MET
Subsidiary Agreement (Commerce Faculty)
Steven Lund
(Tenure) 2012
Josephine Chiu-Duke
(Promotion & Tenure) 2005
Carl Johnson
(Promotion & Tenure) 2003
Laurence Preston
(Promotion & Tenure) 2004
Lance M. Rucker
(Promotion & Tenure) 2007
Lorne Kirby
(Grant Tenure) 1994
Duty of Fair Representation/Section 12
Miscellaneous