Dec 15 2021 Bargaining Updates

December 15, 2021

December 12, 2021

Greetings all:

Unfortunately, the Colleges and CEC team have rejected faculty’s offer to extend the existing Collective Agreement until at least January 3, and have opted to impose terms and conditions of their choosing on Monday, December 13. To be clear, the CEC has chosen labour disruption over further negotiations or voluntary binding interest arbitration, which are both still on the table from faculty. Either continued negotiations or interest arbitration would ensure labour stability while allowing both sides’ proposals to be considered by an arbitrator.

We anticipate that the CEC will attempt to spin this as faculty attempting to deny improvements to faculty, when the opposite is true: the faculty team has been pushing for and bargaining meaningful and ongoing improvements throughout this process. More will follow as we get the details.

It is important to note that the initial imposition of terms is not necessarily the last. The Colleges and CEC can change the terms they impose at will and college by college.

Faculty will be providing the required 5-day notice of labour action to the CEC as a result, and can begin work-to-rule, which will begin first with the union Locals, as of December 18. Details will follow shortly.

Here is the latest media coverage in regard to our bargaining: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/12/12/faculty-at-ontarios-24-public-colleges-vote-in-favour-of-job-action.html?fbclid=IwAR0KemcNm-she6EAeZ-jTzvxAl9CR40w_78UFr3EwhCEaIZe5zWWZZEM51I

In solidarity,
Your CAAT-A Bargaining Team

December 11, 2021

Bargaining Team message to Locals:

Over 2/3 of college faculty voted 59% in favour of labour action in an extremely short time frame at the end of a difficult semester.

We are bargaining for better supports for students, and better supports for ALL faculty to ensure they can support students, as well as fairness for all faculty.

Faculty have continued to extend our invitation to the CEC to either bargain these issues at the table, or to refer them to binding interest arbitration to avoid additional stress on students. We certainly hope that the employer agrees that either of these is the best path forward.

Press release to follow.

FAQ

Below are some quick answers to common questions faculty have raised about a strike mandate:

Does a successful strike vote mean there will be a full strike?

Despite the CEC’s assertions, the simple answer is no.

A strong strike mandate indicates to the employer that faculty are serious about their demands, and about their willingness to take action to support them.

The faculty team has planned an escalating campaign of labour and other actions to build pressure on the employer, and to be able to respond to attempts by the CEC to impose terms and conditions.

Will we be on strike over the holiday break?

No.

When will the team call a strike?

The faculty team will not call a strike over the holiday break. In fact, the faculty team has planned an escalating work-to-rule and labour action campaign to build pressure on the employer and avoid a strike.

What would a strike look like now?

It’s not about walking around (mostly empty) buildings with signs: it’s about recognizing that our collective power comes from the work that we do. Withholding that work (in various forms) is what will force the employer to recognize its value.

Questions you should ask your College President and the CEC team:

Why won’t the CEC team agree to voluntary binding interest arbitration to settle outstanding issues and avoid labour disruption? As a college president, will you tell the CEC team to either bargain faculty’s key demands or agree to send outstanding issues to binding interest arbitration?

If the CEC’s offer is fair and reasonable and represents the best they can do this round, why won’t they call a final offer vote?
- This is something only the CEC team can do, and the results would tell them exactly what faculty think of their offer.

Why won’t the CEC team tell faculty whether or not they plan to impose terms and conditions and what those terms will be?

Again, we encourage you to read the presentation 25 November 2021 Presentation for Members and infographic BARGAINING INFOGRAPHIC (EN), to better understand the current bargaining situation, and to get a clear sense of each side’s offer. We look forward to communicating more shortly, once we have had an opportunity to carefully consider the CEC’s latest proposal, as we are similarly reviewing their latest proposed Offer of Settlement.

Proposals and Bulletins

Your bargaining team has shared all of their non-monetary proposals including draft contract language. The union’s proposals are rooted in feedback from consultations with faculty and students; existing best practices in our system and in other post-secondary education (PSE) institutions; model language from and discussions with Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and other PSE leaders; and through review of both the language proposed by the locals this round, along with language that has been tabled previously. It is all backed by research and bolstered by the findings in the updated Report on Education.

Prior Union Proposals

Comparison of Offers 16 Nov 2021

Current Union Proposal

November 18 2021 UNION OFFER OF SETTLEMENT

For further updates, see collegefaculty.org

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