Bargaining Update and Reminder of Accommodation Petition
Dear Members,
I hope you had a good weekend and are looking forward to a thoughtful commemoration of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Accommodation Petition
I am writing with two short items. First, we have had a strong response to our joint petition on student accommodation issues at UVic, but it would be great if we could get more signatures, so we are extending the deadline to sign the petition to end of day this Friday, October 3rd. We are proud of the fact that students, faculty, and staff at UVic have collaborated on this issue of major joint concern. If you are struggling or have struggled with the serious limitations of UVic’s institutional supports for managing student accommodations, or have seen your colleagues struggle, signing this petition is one step forward to address the problem. Hope you can sign!
Bargaining Update
We presented a number of proposals to the administration’s bargaining team last Thursday. The first was an entirely new article on the impact of technological change. Given how much AI and other technological change is impacting our work, it is very important that the University provide us with adequate notice when they plan to bring in new technology that will impact our workload and our working conditions, and negotiate with us in each case to mitigate any negative impacts of such changes.
We also presented a proposal that would permit departments to recommend longer serving sessional instructors for teaching stream faculty positions. This would be positive for our sessional colleagues, would increase long term teaching capacity in departments, and would reduce the service burden on current faculty members. This initiative received a great deal of support from members in our bargaining surveys.
Finally, we presented a proposal regarding the creation of a joint FA-Administration Committee on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Indigeneity. Many Canadian universities have such joint committees. We have heard loud and clear from Members that the University has fallen short of its own stated goals around these issues and that Members most impacted have been excluded from processes aimed at coming up with solutions. Our proposal aims to create a committee with shared accountability and power, which is what our Members deserve.
In concluding I’d like to thank everyone who attended the Membership Engagement Committee’s social last week. I and other members of the Negotiating Team were very pleased to be able to speak with you directly. We deeply appreciate and need your ongoing support. The more visible you can make this support, the stronger we will be at the bargaining table. There are many ways for you to make that support visible, whether it be by wearing an FA button or placing an FA poster on your door, attending an FA event, or by joining the Membership Engagement Committee. For these and other ideas of how you can support your bargaining team, see the FA’s bargaining website: https://www.uvicfa.ca/bargaining-updates/
Thanks again and all the very best,
Lynne Marks
Lead Negotiator
