Bargaining Update

Dear Members,

I hope all is well with you and you are having some time to enjoy the lovely weather. It was great to see so many of you at our AGM and Social last week.

On behalf of our bargaining team, here is our latest bargaining update.

Your bargaining team is very happy that we now have the full monetary mandate from the provincial government that had already been offered to other BC public sector unions. We were able to do our small part in helping to achieve this for the entire post-secondary sector by standing in solidarity with our colleagues in the UVic CUPE locals who were threatening strike votes to achieve the full mandate.

Now that we have clarity on monetary matters, the bargaining team has been back at the bargaining table three times a week, as well as an additional one or two weekly meetings of our own to prepare for bargaining. We are making progress on some of issues related to reappointments and annual reviews and strengthening language on Members’ rights to appeal not being approved for study leave. The administration has withdrawn some proposed language that we would not accept because we believe it would have resulted in further unnecessary oversight of members, as well as language that would have prevented us from supporting successful faculty and librarian candidates in negotiating their starting salaries.

Filing for Mediation

We remain far apart on important and vital issues, and so we have agreed with the administration to file for mediation, which we did jointly this past Friday. This means that the Labour Relations Board has appointed a mediator to assist the admin and FA bargaining teams in working to get closer to a tentative agreement. We have mediation dates set between May 20th and the end of May. Prior to that time, we will continue bargaining on our own with the admin team, to seek to make more progress, so that we might have fewer outstanding issues to address when we get to mediation.

The fact that we will be in mediation later in May does give us hope that we may have a tentative agreement to bring to you at the end of May. Mediation has worked successfully in the last round in 2023, and in 2015. There are no guarantees, however, as the administration will have to demonstrate serious movement on the issues of key importance to our members. And of course, the Association will also have to compromise as necessary, while working as hard as we can to get you the best deal possible.

Below, I have summarized the key issues that remain unresolved and the progress your bargaining team has made so far. The bargaining team is hopeful that we are in the final stretch of bargaining, but all of us will need to continue to push in order to secure a contract that protects us and recognizes the vital work we do here at the University. While we are working hard at the table, we need you, our members, to provide the leverage we need to conclude a successful agreement. Watch for further information on how you can demonstrate your support. In the meantime, if you can do so, continue to use the zoom backgrounds, email signatures, and posters our Membership Engagement committee has put together here: https://www.uvicfa.ca/bargaining-updates/

Monetary Matters

Now that we have the additional funds from the provincial financial mandate, we are trying to come to agreement with the admin’s team on how these new monies will be spent. Thus far it seems that we are not too far apart on improving benefits, but on other issues there remains significant distance between us and the administration.

Workload

While a bit of progress has been made, we remain far apart on issues of workload. We are seeking serious action in this round of bargaining to address the increases in workload facing many of our members. We are proposing the implementation of a fund of over $1 million a year that would allow members to apply for course reductions if their workload is significantly above Normal Workload for their unit. It would also enable members to apply for additional TA support to help with larger classes and high levels of student accommodation demands. Members whose teaching workload makes it impossible for them to achieve a reasonable work-life balance, to do the kind of quality teaching they seek to do, or to have adequate time for research or scholarly activity would be able to apply for these forms of support – teaching reduction and or TA support. Thus far, the administration’s proposals do not provide the kind of tangible and long-term support to address workload that is needed, and they do not seem to have a full recognition of the realities of the workload burdens faced by many of our members.

Conference Travel Grants

Given the increased mandate funds, we have also presented a proposal to the admin’s team for the restoration of conference travel grants, since we know that the admin’s decision to cut these grants in 2024 has negatively impacted many members. We have not yet had a response from the admin to our proposal on this matter.

BPoC and Indigenous Members

We are seeking to provide supports for BPoC members who can face isolation and racism. We have been working with the BPoC Caucus on this matter, and the admin’s team is working with EQHR. We seem to be getting closer to making progress on this issue of major concern to many of our members. We are also working to address proposals presented jointly by Indigenous FA members and Indigenous members of the admin to improve conditions facing Indigenous members.

Chairs’ Workload

We are seeking to provide support to Chairs, who are facing ever increasing workload demands. The admin seems to recognize some of these concerns, but we have not yet come to a shared agreement on solutions.

We are also continuing to work on a number of bargaining issues of importance to our members that do not have monetary implications:

Technological Change

Given the rapidity with which AI is transforming academic workplaces, we are seeking language that would give the FA reasonable notice of any technological change to be implemented by the admin that would impact our members, as well as the right to work together with the administration in determining how such changes would be implemented. Thus far the administration has said they are not willing to negotiate such language with us, although a number of other FAs have such language, and it is being negotiated with other unions at UVic.

Student Evaluation Surveys

We also remain far apart on the use of SEL in the evaluation of members’ teaching. While we realize that the administration wishes to provide students with a voice, we strongly believe that given the empirically proven serious biases of student evaluation surveys, that members should have the choice as to whether or not to use this instrument in the evaluation of their teaching. We have proposed that members should be able to replace the use of SEL frequencies in the evaluation of their teaching with additional peer reviews, or should have the option of providing information about how they have used SEL in improving their teaching, without having SEL frequencies used in assessing them. Thus far the admin has refused to consider either of these alternative approaches.

Librarians

We have made very little progress in gaining the same collegial governance rights for librarians as those held by faculty members. We are also seeking the same appeal procedures for promotion through UAAC for librarians as those held by faculty. We are awaiting the admin’s response to our latest proposal on this matter.

Childcare

We have also not had any success with our childcare proposal. Both the FA and PEA are asking that the administration commit to applying for further provincial and federal funding to increase the number of childcare spaces for infants and toddlers, as there are long waitlists for such spaces. We are also asking them to apply for funding to re-institute afterschool care at UVic. This service was cut at UVic in 2018. If you are interested in helping us to advocate for increased childcare spaces at UVic, please contact me or Michelle Miranda, [email protected], a member of our bargaining team.

We will continue to update you on our progress at the bargaining table, and the Membership Engagement Committee will communicate soon about how you can provide support to your bargaining team.

Once we have an agreement ratified by our members and by the Board of Governors, it is our understanding that the University will work to provide you with your retroactive pay, back to July 1, 2025.

Thanks very much for your ongoing support. On a personal level, it really keeps us going, and it also provides us with real power at the table.

All the very best,

Lynne

Lynne Marks, President and Lead Negotiator on behalf of the FA bargaining team,

Christine O’Bonsawin, History

Moustapha Fall, School of Languages, Linguistics and Cultures

Travis Martin, Physics and Astronomy

Michelle Miranda, Math and Statistics

Jane Morrison, Library

Bruce Ravelli, Sociology

Caterina Valeo, Mechanical Engineering

Nathan Todd, FA staff