Bargaining Update
Dear Members,
I hope that all is well with you. We want to very much thank all of you who were able to sign our bargaining petition. With almost 500 signatures from current FA members you sent a strong message to the administration of your support for your bargaining team and our bargaining mandate. It has had a clear impact at the bargaining table.
President’s Report Every sixty years, the Year of the Fire Horse returns. On February 17, 2026, it arrives again—traditionally associated with intensity, vitality, independence, and a call toward bold action, creativity, and meaningful change. It is difficult not to notice that this energy already feels present. Often attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.—“The time is always right to do what is right”—and to Mark Twain—“You’re never wrong for doing the right thing”—the phrase there is never a wrong time…
Dear Faculty Association Members, We are seeing a strong response to the petition; however, we have also heard from many members who were unaware that it existed. We recognize that colleagues are extraordinarily busy, but at this moment the Faculty Association needs broad and visible support to push the administration to bargain in good faith. Some members have shared that the request for names and departments raised concerns could expose them to potential administrative retaliation. We take those concerns seriously….
We acknowledge and respect the Lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Xʷsepsəm/Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.
We acknowledge the devastation that government-created residential schools and Indian hospitals have inflicted on the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples and the ongoing effectics of concentric trauma that continue to this day.
