WLUFA

26/01/2012
WLUFA Newsletter
January 24, 2012

The WLUFA Executive and the Bargaining Team would like to thank everyone who attended and participated in the bargaining unit meetings last week and those who conveyed their support but were unable to attend. We appreciate your willingness to volunteer for picket captain duties, communications or back-office work. The strike enabling vote sends a strong message to the Administration that WLUFA members are firmly in support of the Bargaining Team.

Additional Comments About the Pension Plan:
In regard to the pension plan, a few points of additional explanation are needed. Nothing the Administration has done in the management of the Laurier pension plan is illegal. The Administration bears the residual liability for the pension plan. This means that, after all employees covered by the pension plan have made their required contributions, the Administration must pay to the pension fund the amount needed to fully fund the pension plan. This residual liability is the sole responsibility of the Administration. In exchange for this responsibility, the Administration has the management rights and privilege, within legislated guidelines, to decide when, how and in what amounts to contribute to the pension plan, as well as the management right to make assumptions about the future behavior of actuarial factors affecting the pension plan. The Administration also has the management right to make assumptions about the future behavior of actuarial factors such as the investment returns on stocks and bonds, the rate of inflation and the age at which employees retire. The purpose of these rights is to allow the Administration to properly manage the pension‘s funded status, which can be either a surplus or deficit.

Surpluses or deficits can be created in the Laurier pension plan through a number of factors including the investment returns on stocks and bonds, the rate of inflation and the age that employees retire. In addition, a key influence on the surplus or deficit is the contributions to the pension plan by the Administration and the actuarial assumptions about the future made by the Administration.

For example, the Administration can decide to create a surplus in the pension fund by increasing the amount contributed (funded) to the pension fund or by making optimistic actuarial assumptions. Alternatively, the Administration can decide to borrow from the pension plan, thereby creating a deficit, by withholding contributions to the pension fund (a contribution holiday) or by making pessimistic actuarial assumptions.
The recent history of Laurier’s pension plan is that the Administration made optimistic actuarial assumptions in the 1990s and borrowed against the fund via the pension contribution holidays, thus creating the deficit in the pension fund we observe today.

The overall point is that the Administration certainly had the management right to borrow against the pension fund, and thus to create the pension deficit in the 1990s, at their discretion. However, that deficit is what we are now looking at in the pension plan. The deficit was caused by the Administration borrowing against the pension plan, not contributing to the fund, and not setting money aside for future contributions. Thus, no modifications whatsoever to the Laurier pension plan are required as a result of today’s deficit in the pension plan.

The Administration exercised the management right to borrow against the pension plan and to create the deficit in the pension fund. The Administration must now accept the responsibility of residual liability that is inextricably tied to that management right. In short, the Administration must contribute to the pension plan to pay the deficit they created.

Funding Laurier’s Mission:
It has been ascertained that the Administration has the financial resources to support faculty members and librarians, to maintain the pension plan and health-care benefits for retirees, and to provide for fair compensation to faculty and librarians. It is critical to the Laurier community that the Administration make these investments; indeed, their fundamental unwillingness to do so contradicts the University’s own mission statement, which states the primary functions of the University to be teaching and research: “[WLU] is devoted to learning, research, scholarship, creativity, professional expertise and personal development in a student-centered environment.” Pursuit of such a mission requires a full complement of faculty who are fully engaged in research and teaching duties, as well as in service to the University, to their disciplines and professions, and to the broader community. The integrity of our academic programs and the quality of the learning environment at Laurier depends on the ongoing facilitation of such conditions. Students, particularly extremely promising ones, will make the choice to attend this university on the grounds of robust academic programs and the opportunity to study with active, energetic and vital scholars. In order both to retain and to continue to attract the kind of faculty that will ensure that this remains an effective and vibrant University community, it is crucially important that the Administration make the necessary investments required to ensure that all faculty remain full participants in the University. Such participation includes existing pension and benefit plans and fair compensation.

Conciliation Next Week:
As announced at the last bargaining unit meeting, a conciliator has been appointed by the Ministry of Labour; conciliation will start on January 24th and continue on January 26 and possibly January 27. Your bargaining team is busy preparing for conciliation. If the Administration is ready to bargain seriously, WLUFA feels an agreement may be possible.

That said, we must be prepared in the event of a negative outcome. If a tentative agreement cannot be reached, the conciliator reports to the Ministry of Labour that an agreement is not possible at this time. The Minister then issues a notice called a “no-board report” to WLUFA and the Administration. At that point, the dispute is left in the hands of the parties. Either party can request mediation/arbitration, but only with the agreement of both parties. After a waiting period, WLUFA would be in a legal strike position. If conciliation ends without an agreement, WLUFA must be prepared for a strike or a lockout. WLUFA must have a solid strike vote and demonstrate that all preparations are in place for a strike. Note that WLUFA is a member of the CAUT Defense Fund that will provide support for strike pay and benefits during a strike.

A common strategy used by university administrations in the last two years is to wait till the last possible moment, and table its last proposals only when the threat of job action is real and imminent. We need to be prepared for the Administration to implement the same strategy.

Again, thank you for your support. Your show of support has already significantly enhanced the power of the WLUFA Bargaining Team to represent your interests at the bargaining table.

If you were unable to attend the last bargaining unit meeting, but are interested in volunteering for strike preparedness, including picket captain duties, communications or back-office work, please contact the WLUFA office: Linda Watson (Ext. 2603, lwatson@wlu.ca) or Larissa Brocklebank (Ext. 3721, lbrocklebank@wlu.ca).

A bargaining unit meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 1, 2012 on the Brantford campus in room CB206 starting at 11:30 a.m. and on Wednesday, February 1, 2012 on the Waterloo campus in the Senate and Board Chambers starting at 7:00 p.m. PLEASE ATTEND AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE WLUFA BARGAINING TEAM.

Dear Colleagues;

The OCUFA Service Award was established last year to honour individuals who have done, or continue to do, exceptional work on behalf of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and its Members.

Up to six awards may be given each year and are presented during OCUFA’s Annual General Meeting, typically held in early June.

The deadline for nominations this year is April 30, 2012.

For more information about the award and the nomination form — in English or French — please visit:

http://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/ocufa-service-award/ or

http://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/le-prix-du-service-de-l%e2%80%99ocufa/ [French version]

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Best regards,

Mark

——————————————————–
Mark Rosenfeld, Ph.D
Executive Director
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
83 Yonge Street, Suite 300
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C 1S8
Tel: 416-979-2117 x229
Fax: 416-593-5607
E-mail: mrosenfeld@ocufa.on.ca

Dear Colleague;

I am very pleased to announce that nominations for the 39^th annual 2011-12 OCUFA Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards are now open. Since 1973, these awards have recognized the very best in teaching and librarianship from across Ontario, and we are thrilled to continue our tradition of honoring the individuals that make our universities great.

Included with this e-mail you will find attachments with more information of the award program. I encourage you to forward this e-mail as widely as possible. Guidelines and supporting documents can also be found on the OCUFA website at http://ocufa.on.ca/ocufa-awards/

Nominations can be made by anyone in the university community, so long as the nominee is a member of an OCUFA-affiliated faculty association. The nomination deadline for the 2010-11 Awards is May 21, 2012.

If you have any questions about the program, or are having any difficulty accessing the award documents, please contact the OCUFA office at 416 979 2117 or at ktenbrinke@ocufa.on.ca.

World-class teachers and librarians are integral parts of an excellent higher education system. I hope you will join us in identifying and recognizing these outstanding individual on your campus.

Sincerely,

OCUFA President,

Constance Adamson

In the last newsletter we talked about Laurier’s excellent financial performance in a number of areas: record positive surpluses in the General Fund, record cash flows from operations and record cash on deposit as reported in the Audited Financial Statements.  This is the real financial situation at Laurier.  There is no financial crisis at Laurier and never has been in the last three years.  The Administration represents a financial crisis in their budgets where none exists and bases its proposals at the bargaining table on this same ostensible crisis.

Yet, if no financial crisis exists, what is the Administration doing in fact with the record breaking surplus from the General Fund and the record breaking cash flow from operations?  Where does all the money go?

The details are somewhat technical and we will discuss them below.  But first, let us explore the Administration’s proceedings through the use of an analogy.

Let us suppose you know parents who say they want the best for their children.  They decide to buy the biggest house on the biggest lot with the biggest yard in the neighbourhood.  They spend lavishly on additions to the house and extensive landscaping to the yard.  They explain that all this spending is for the good of the children who will have a comfortable and safe place to live.  The parents spend so much buying the house and making improvements that they have no money left to provide adequate food or heat in the house.  In order to continue making improvements to the house, water and hydro are severely rationed.  The children end up hungry, cold and thirsty as they try to read their books by candlelight.  Through all of this their parents insist that they have been careful and prudent and their spending has benefitted the children.

The actions of the Administration are comparable to the parents in the story.  Here is why:  (1) Information discussed below from the Audited Financial Statements, the only reliable source of financial information, demonstrates that the Administration is on a capital asset spending spree.  (2) The proposals by the Administration at the bargaining table are an indication to us that the Administration places a very low priority on fair compensation, retiree health benefits or pensions. The implementation of their current proposals to cut back on retiree health benefits, cutback on pension benefits and establish cost savings in the form of a low-cost second-tier teaching stream that will be incapable of any significant research or service contribution to Laurier would result in WLUFA Members paying for the Administration’s spending spree in the future.

Let’s look at the information from the Audited Financial Statements, the only reliable financial information available.  We can look at the Administration’s actions in two ways, from an accrual accounting view and from a strictly cash flow view.  The accrual accounting view includes all cash and non-cash transactions.  The cash flow view just looks at cash transactions.  These two views are standard in accounting analysis.  The advantage of looking at both views is that we have greater assurance that our interpretations are accurate.

FROM STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS (AN ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING VIEW):

The schedule above shows the surplus in the General Fund, the amounts transferred out of the general fund to both the Capital Fund and to the Internally Restricted Fund and, the amounts remaining in the General Fund after the surplus has been transferred out of the General Fund. Let’s look at the three-year totals. The total surplus generated in the General Fund, $43,482,000, was generated from the dedication and hard work of the employees of Laurier, including the dedication and hard work of WLUFA members.  Of the $43,482,000 surplus in the General Fund, $35,384,000 or 81 percent of the surplus was transferred out to the Capital Fund.  This is generally regarded as a one-way street; once a surplus is transferred to the Capital fund it rarely, if ever, comes back out.

In addition, $22,929,000 was transferred out to the Internally Restricted fund.  The name “Internally Restricted” is a standard accounting name, which is used frequently in accounting reports, but its meaning is somewhat confusing.    “Internally Restricted” means that the Administration has made their own plans for this money.  The Administration is “restricting” the use of this money for their own discretionary projects.  There is no legal restriction or requirements regarding the use of this money.  So, it is perfectly possible for that money to be moved in and out of the Internally Restricted fund at the discretion of the Administration.

The above schedule shows that more was transferred out of the General Fund than was generated in surplus,  leaving a negative effect on the General Fund of  <$14,831,000>.  The bulk of the transfers, $35,384,000, or 81 percent of the General Fund surplus, was to the Capital Fund to fund the purchase of Capital Assets.

Now let’s look at the capital asset spending of the Administration from a cash flow view:

FROM STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS (A STRICTLY CASH FLOW VIEW):

Over the last three years the dedication and hard work of the employees of Laurier, including the dedication and hard work of WLUFA members has generated cash inflow to Laurier of $72,163,000.  The Administration has managed to spend an amount equal to the Cash Inflow from Operations and more on buying capital assets, a total spending of $73,702,000 on Capital Assets over the last three years.

What are the implications of this?  Regardless of how the information in the Audited Financial Statements is analyzed, the inescapable conclusion is that during the past three years the Administration has been on a Capital Asset spending spree.  The Administration now wants WLUFA members to fund this spending spree through the proposals discussed above: cutbacks in retiree health benefits, cutbacks in pension benefits and additional cuts to Member compensation via extra pension payments.  In addition, the Administration has proposed cost savings in the form of a low-cost second-tier teaching stream. These proposals are ostensibly justified by the financial crisis portrayed in the Administration’s budgets.  However, no financial crisis exists or has existed at Laurier over the past three years.

Members of WLUFA deserve far better than the cutbacks and takeaways proposed by the Administration.  This is especially true in light of the hard work, dedication and accomplishments of WLUFA Members in the past three years, including the elevation of Laurier to comprehensive university status.

A further discussion of the proposals on the bargaining table and a strike enabling vote will be held at the Members meeting on January 10, 2012: Waterloo Campus at 7:00 p.m. at Bricker Academic Building, Room BA 102; and on the same day at the Brantford Campus at 2:30 p.m. Odeon Building (50 Market St.), Room OD110.   PLEASE ATTEND, DEMONSTRATE YOUR SUPPORT AND SHARE YOUR VIEWS WITH THE BARGAINING TEAM.

FINANCIAL CRISIS? NO, BARGAINING CRISIS? YES!

At this point, what remains on the bargaining table are proposals by the Administration to:

(1) reduce pension benefits and ultimately eliminate our existing pension plan,

(2) reduce retiree health benefits, and

(3) implement a low-cost second-tier teaching stream that will be incapable of any significant research or service contribution to Laurier.

In addition, the Administration has tabled a compensation proposal that will definitely keep us near or at the bottom of the Ontario University System. Furthermore, the Administration has insisted that the compensation proposal is contingent on our accepting their proposals for the pension benefit and retiree health benefit cutbacks. This contingency leads us to believe, of course, that our unwillingness to compromise on our pension and retiree health benefits will mean that the Administration’s compensation proposal will be reduced even further, undoubtedly putting us firmly at the bottom of the Ontario University System.

There is absolutely no reason why our existing pensions should be cut back and eventually eliminated, no reason for retiree health benefit cutbacks and no reason why our compensation should be well below other comprehensive universities in Ontario. In addition, there is absolutely no reason why a low-cost second-tier teaching stream should be created. Laurier has the financial resources to easily address the continuance of our pension plan and retiree health benefits – as they exist today - well into the future, as well as the financial resources needed to hire additional faculty for years to come.

The bargaining team needs your help, but before describing what you can do, let’s explain what the bargaining team thinks is happening.

As you know, in the past three years, the Administration has been presenting budgets that show a financial crisis at Laurier. Keep in mind that budgets are a tool of the Administration to get you to do what the Administration wants you to do. Budgets have no relationship to actual financial results, yet, it appears that the budgets are the basis for the Administration’s proposals.

Let’s look at the actual financial results for the last three years on a number of dimensions so that you can have a good working knowledge of why the proposals on the table by the Administration do not make sense. All of these amounts and percentages are from the Audited Financial Statements for the year indicated. These amounts and percentages are some of the standard measures used by analysts to assess the financial condition of a not‐for‐profit organisation like Laurier.

* indicates that this amount is a record amount in the history of Laurier.

Note the large amounts of the surplus in the General Fund, the large amounts of Cash Inflow from Operations, and the large amount of Cash and Deposits at year-end from 2009 through 2011. All are positive and increasing. Also note that for 2010 and 2011 record surpluses were generated in the General Fund, record Cash Flow from Operations were generated, and record amounts of Cash and Deposits are available at year end. You can see too, that the percent increase in revenues are very substantial for each of the last three years, far exceeding the percentage increases in compensation for the employees generating the revenue. This is significant because the surpluses, cash flows and cash on deposit were generated through the hard work and dedication of the employees of Laurier, including WLUFA members.

The bottom line is that Laurier has significant financial resources on several dimensions: ability to generate large and increasing surpluses in the General Fund, ability to generate large and increasing Cash Flow from Operations and ability to generate large and increasing Cash and Deposits in banks. The overall conclusion one gets from this information is that Laurier has had positively fantastic financial success in the past three years. The financial reality is that NO financial crisis has existed at Laurier in the past three years, in contrast to the Administration’s budgets. But then again, budgets are a tool of the Administration, prepared so that you do what the Administration wants you to do. Budgets do not reflect financial reality, nor should they be relied upon as a measure of the financial condition of Laurier.

Only the Audited Financial Statements can be relied upon to give the accurate economic picture of the financial condition of Laurier because they are reviewed by independent auditors (KPMG Chartered Accountants) who render an opinion that the Audited Financial Statements present fairly the financial position of Laurier. No budget disclosure by the Administration has such a third party auditor review to render such an opinion.

In the end, the fact is that in bargaining, we must deal with financial reality and the accurate financial picture of Laurier. Only the Audited Financial Statements provide financial reality and an accurate financial picture. In contrast, the budgets presented by the Administration do not in any way represent financial reality or the accurate financial picture of Laurier. Budgets are a tool used by the Administration to get you to do what Administration wants you to do. In the case of bargaining, budgets are designed to get WLUFA to accept Administration proposals that have no relationship to financial reality. The Administration’s proposals are based on the budgets presented by the Administration, not the financial reality and the accurate financial picture provided by the Audited Financial Statements. As a result, the Administration’s proposals do not make sense to us, even though the Administration appears to want to stand by them.

The bargaining team needs a way to “unstick” the Administration from their fascination with budgets that show financial crisis when no financial crisis exists. We need a way to bargain using financial reality from the Audited Financial Statements that show unbelievably positive financial success at Laurier. To do this, your bargaining team needs you to bring a strike enabling vote that will support us further at the bargaining table.

WHAT IS A STRIKE ENABLING VOTE?

A strike enabling vote by WLUFA members allows the WLUFA Executive to call on members for a strike vote in the future. A strike enabling vote is not a strike vote. It is the authorization to hold a strike vote. No strike can be called from a strike enabling vote; however, with a strike enabling vote, the WLUFA Executive would have the authorization to call for a strike vote in the future. The strike enabling vote sends a strong signal to the Administration that WLUFA members support the bargaining team.

WHAT DO THE ADMINISTRATION’S PROPOSALS MEAN TO YOU?

Our compensation ranks 14th out of 16 in the Ontario University System. Our average faculty salary is $9,646 lower than the average faculty salary of the Ontario University System adjusted for age and rank. All but one age/rank classification of Laurier faculty are underpaid. The Administration’s proposals would keep us at or below where we are now. In addition to the cutbacks in retiree health benefits, faculty with an average salary would pay $2,142 more in pension contributions each year for reduced pension benefits. In effect, the Administration’s proposals would result in faculty taking a pay cut in exchange for inadequate compensation, retiree health benefit cutbacks and pension benefit cutbacks.

A further discussion of the proposals on the bargaining table and a strike enabling vote will be held at the Members meeting on January 10, 2012: Waterloo Campus at 7:00 p.m. at Bricker Academic Building, Room BA 102; Brantford Campus at 2:30 p.m. Odeon Building (50 Market St.), Room OD110. Please attend, show your support, and provide the bargaining team with your views.

DID YOU KNOW…

The Administration is demanding cutbacks in retiree health benefits and pensions,

and eventual elimination of our existing pension plan while continuing to generate a

structural surplus?

Why Do We Need Conciliation? A Strategic Analysis

As pointed out in a previous newsletter, requesting conciliation has been a common practice for WLUFA negotiating teams in many negotiations in the past and, historically, conciliation has been necessary in order to reach a tentative agreement. Conciliation may be requested at any time during negotiations by either WLUFA or the Administration. Conciliation is a necessary step to preserve your rights and must be done at the appropriate time to be effective. Filing for conciliation puts pressure on both parties to bargain in a more focused fashion to achieve a settlement, and starts the clock ticking toward putting the parties in a strike or lock-out position. As we have reported to the membership, the Administration has been reluctant to put its monetary proposals on the table, in part because of their regressive agenda on compensation, pensions, and benefits. Even though the parties are far apart, WLUFA remains committed to negotiating the best possible settlement in conciliation. Nonetheless, we also need to prepare for the possibility that a settlement may not be reached. After all, it takes two parties negotiating in good faith and bargaining effectively to make a deal. Your WLUFA negotiating team and WLUFA Executive have been carefully planning our course of action in these negotiations since the initial planning process began last February. Filing for conciliation is just a part of that careful planning process.

WLUFA informed the Administration on Tuesday, November 22, 2011 of our intention to file for conciliation by the end of November, 2011. On November 30, 2011 WLUFA filed for conciliation with the Minister of Labour.

Why Do We Need Conciliation? A Bargaining Analysis:

Conciliation should be seen to be a necessary step that we must take in order to expedite the progress of negotiations. WLUFA considers this a positive development since we have been taking the lead in pushing the Administration to bargain with us more seriously and to move forward at a faster pace.

In July, in a protocol meeting with Administration, we discussed the possibilities of when we might exchange proposals. At that point, both WLUFA and the Administration knew that we would need to be fully prepared and expect to exchange proposals at any time. Subsequently, we agreed to exchange proposals in September. It was WLUFA’s understanding that all proposals, including monetary proposals would be tabled at that time.

WLUFA tabled all of our proposals, including all of those related to monetary issues. The Administration, however, tabled only non-monetary items and indicated that they were not yet prepared to table their proposals related to monetary issues. After some delay and pressing by WLUFA, the Administration did turn over their monetary proposals, as well as the data related to the University’s financial statements that WLUFA had repeatedly requested. Yet, the Administration continued to indicate that they were not ready to formally present their monetary proposals.

As our bargaining has continued, WLUFA formally presented all of our proposals for the articles that we opened. Our presentations included all monetary proposals, both for compensation and for funding support, so that WLUFA’s full package was presented and ready for discussion. This included handing over the research about the status of our salaries relative to other universities in Ontario. Upon receipt of our research, the Administration indicated that they needed to do more research before responding to us.

WLUFA has continually encouraged the University to formally present their remaining proposals (all of which are related to compensation issues). In the meantime, WLUFA took the opportunity to present the reports we have received from our actuary and benefits consultant. Once presented, WLUFA had no other items, proposals or research results to bring to the table, and so there could be little forward motion for the negotiations until the Administration presented their monetary proposals.

At the time of going to press on December 5, the Administration has yet to present their monetary proposals despite their assurance that they would do so on December 1.

Your WLUFA bargaining team has worked hard and diligently to meet the deadlines agreed to by both the Administration and WLUFA in July. In contrast to the Administration, WLUFA has met those deadlines every step of the way. Conciliation will help expedite the negotiation process toward an agreement.

The Process of Moving Forward:

As mentioned, either the Administration or WLUFA can formally ask the Ministry of Labour to appoint a conciliation officer. Conciliation can be requested at any time during negotiations. If the request is in order, the Ministry usually appoints a conciliation officer to contact the parties and arrange a meeting. The conciliator acts as a facilitator for the bargaining process but it is up to the two parties to negotiate a settlement. If the parties fail to reach a settlement in conciliation, the union is in a position to strike or to be locked out by the employer. If a tentative agreement cannot be reached, the conciliator reports to the Ministry of Labour that an agreement is not possible at this time. The Minister then issues a notice informing the union and the employer that he or she “does not consider it advisable to appoint a conciliation board.” Colloquially, this is called a “no-board report.” At that point the dispute is left in the hands of the parties. Either party can request mediation/arbitration, but only with the agreement of both parties. After a waiting period WLUFA would be in a legal strike position. When conciliation ends, WLUFA must be prepared for a strike. At that point WLUFA must have a solid strike vote and demonstrate that all preparations are in place for a strike. The Administration may try to save some money and management rights by waiting till the last possible moment, and table its last proposals only when the threat of job action is real and imminent. This has been a very common strategy used in the past two years by University Administrations all across Canada. We need to be prepared for the Administration to implement the same strategy. As previously mentioned, at this time WLUFA does not see that a strike is needed or necessary. We are confident that a settlement can be reached . But, we must preserve our rights and prepare for any eventuality.

SUPPORT YOUR WLUFA BARGAINING TEAM.

DID YOU KNOW:

WLUFA has requested conciliation in most negotiations in the past because it has been very helpful in arriving at an agreement?

Budgets are like weather forecasts: both are just estimates or guesses about what may happen in the future. In contrast, financial statements are like actual observed weather, the real experienced weather of the day. Keeping in mind, the analogy to budgets and financial statements, let’s take a look at the following weather forecasts and actual weather observations.

The weather forecast predicts a real crisis each week because of freezing rain. The actual observed weather is excellent, no crisis at all; this is the weather that actually occurs.

This is very similar to what has happened in the last three years at Laurier. Every year the budgets show a financial “crisis.” But, the real financial outcomes in the financial statements show a tremendously positive financial result, with over $43 million in surplus generated in the general fund. Plus, the surpluses generated in the last two years are record positive surpluses for Laurier. Thus, no financial “crisis” exists at Laurier. In fact, the opposite is true. Laurier has experienced fantastic financial success.

How can it be that no financial “crisis” exists at Laurier if the Administration’s budgets consistently show a “crisis” year after year? To understand this it is necessary to know something about budgets. Budgets are a forecast; unlike financial statements, they do not reflect actual financial outcomes. Budgets are a financial tool of the Administration to guide the allocation of resources in the University. They reflect the Administration’s goals and aspirations. Budgets do not reflect financial outcomes. Budgets are used by the Administration to direct the actions of all employees, including faculty and staff. Budgets are designed to get you to do what the Administration wants you to do.

The Administration has complete discretion in preparing budgets. This means that, unlike weather forecasts, budgets are biased. The Administration has complete discretion in estimating, preparing and presenting the budget. It is very useful to show a financial “crisis” in the budget to control employees. A manufactured “crisis” is a means to get employees to do more with less.

In contrast to budgets, which are prepared at the complete discretion of the Administration, financial statements are prepared according to very strict accounting standards. These standards exist so that financial statements show the accurate financial reality and economic activity of an organization. Thus, financial statements show the real economic results, not the budgeted discretionary estimates of the Administration. If a financial “crisis” existed at Laurier it would be seen very clearly in the financial statements. We might observe massive increases in debt-to-assets, negative cash flows from operations and massive deficits in the general fund. We actually observe just the opposite in the financial statements: decreases in debt-to-assets, positive cash flows and record breaking positive surpluses in the general fund. This is a strong indication that a structural surplus has been created that will continue into the future. In other words, we observe the diametric opposite of a financial “crisis.”

Financial statements are prepared according to strict rules and show economic reality because they are used by third parties to evaluate the financial management of managers of organizations, including Universities. For example, Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) examines the financial statements of Laurier along with other information to determine the risk of Laurier’s bonds. Their rating of Laurier bonds has been high and stable for the past 5 years. In the current international economic environment, if any hint of a financial “crisis” existed at Laurier the bond rating would have declined. No such decline in bond rating has been observed because no financial “crisis” exists at Laurier. Thus, the financial reality at Laurier is fantastic financial success. No financial “crisis” exists.

SUPPORT YOUR WLUFA NEGOTIATING TEAM.

“Creating a useful crisis is part of what this will be about. So the first communications that the public might hear might be more negative than would be inclined to talk about (otherwise). . . Yeah, we need to invent a crisis and that’s not an act of courage, there’s some skill involved.” (John Snobelen, Minister for Education and Training, Toronto Star, 13 September, 1997, p. A3)

DID YOU KNOW…

that budgets are a tool used by the Administration to get you to do more with less?

The Administration has put on quite a show in the past two years about the serious deficit in our pension plan. A deficit is when assets in the pension plan are less than the pension liabilities. Another way of saying this is that the pension plan is underfunded. Yet, with all the talk of pension “crisis,” the Administration has deemphasized how this deficit originated.

Technical issues will be addressed below. But first let us look at the origins of the deficit in the Laurier pension fund by providing an analogy. Suppose that you buy a home (an asset) with a mortgage loan (a liability). One day the bank says that you cannot make payments on the mortgage loan for the next five years. During this five year time period the mortgage loan balance grows at an increasing rate because interest is charged on the unpaid interest. At the end of the five years the bank allows the homeowner to again make payments on the mortgage loan including all past payments not yet made.

What should the homeowner do? A prudent and careful homeowner would realize that the mortgage loan will continue to grow and must be paid eventually. So, the homeowner sets cash aside each month equal to the amount of the mortgage payment during the five year period. When the five year period has elapsed, the homeowner can resume paying the mortgage loan and also has the cash to cover the mortgage payments not made to the mortgage loan and the accumulated interest on those mortgage payments. Thus, the homeowner never falls behind on the payments that must be made to successfully pay off the mortgage loan.

Alternatively, suppose the homeowner decides not to set money aside and decides to spend the money instead. In five years they face a much larger mortgage loan. This is because of compound interest, where interest is accrued not only on the original mortgage loan, but also on all of the payments that were not made. In the worst case scenario, the mortgage loan (liability) could grow to more than the value of the house (the asset). In which case the homeowner would be in a deficit position, where the amount of the mortgage loan (liability) is greater than the value of the home (asset). In effect, the homeowner has not only borrowed using the mortgage loan, but has borrowed an amount equal to all of the payments that should have been made, with interest, over the last five years.

The Laurier Administration has acted much like the homeowner who did not set money aside for mortgage payments and decided to spend the money. Just like that homeowner, the Administration borrowed from the pension plan and has not paid the pension plan for the loan. This is the origin of the deficit in the pension plan where liabilities are greater than assets. If this loan were paid, there would be no pension “crisis.” To understand how the Administration borrowed from the pension plan a brief description of the actuarial design of the Laurier is needed. The actuarial design of the pension plan rests with three key components: (1) a seven percent of salary contribution to the pension plan by employees, (2) a matching seven percent contribution to the pension plan by the employer and (3) payouts to retirees made in accordance to the formula in the pension plan document. All of these components must be in place in every year and must be adhered to every year for the Laurier pension plan to be actuarially sound and sustainable. Otherwise, the Laurier pension plan will not perform as it is designed.

The deficits in the Laurier pension plan started with the Administration taking what is called pension contribution holidays in 1994. A pension contribution holiday is a suspension of the actuarially defined cash contributions to the pension plan. This continued until 2002. The employees kept contributing seven percent of wages to the pension plan, but the Administration did not contribute a matching amount. This is no different from the Administration taking a loan from the pension plan. As with all loans, the funds must be paid back with interest. The amount of this loan explains the deficit in the pension fund that we see today. In short, the actuarial design of the Laurier pension plan was not adhered to and therefore a deficit occurred.

To be fair, it must also be mentioned that employees at Laurier also took partial pension contribution holidays from 2000 to 2001. So, employees also partially suspended cash contributions to the pension plan and have also taken a loan from the pension plan. This loan must also be paid back to the pension plan.

At the end of 2010, our actuary calculated the Administration’s loan to be $59.27 million and the employee’s loan to be $4.94 million, both resulting from the pension contribution holidays.

If these loans were paid as of 2010, our actuary has determined that the Laurier pension plan would be properly funded. There would be no pension “crisis.”

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“Creating a useful crisis is part of what this will be about. So the first communications that the public might hear might be more negative than would be inclined to talk about (otherwise). . . Yeah, we need to invent a crisis and that’s not an act of courage, there’s some skill involved.” (John Snobelen, Minister for Education, Toronto Star, 13 September, 1997. P. A3)

DID YOU KNOW…

Over the last three years the Administration has talked many times of serious budget issues, but the audited financial statements have showed a cumulative surplus of over $43 million over that same period?

BARGAINING PROGRESS: Since the last bargaining update, your WLUFA bargaining team for the renewal of the Collective Agreement for Full-time Faculty and Professional Librarians has presented all of our proposals for the articles that we determined to open for these negotiations. Our presentations have also included all monetary proposals, both for Compensation (Article 30) and for Funding Support (Article 38) so that WLUFA’s entire proposal was on the table and ready for discussion. In addition, and in order to keep our negotiations moving forward, we have also shared research and reports prepared for WLUFA with the Administration and have encouraged the University to present their remaining proposals (all of which are related to compensation issues). They have not yet done so, but indicate that they will do so in December. At this point, however, WLUFA has no other items to bring to the table and so there can be little (or no) forward motion for the negotiations until the University has presented those monetary proposals in December.

This is not surprising to your bargaining team. The presentation of monetary proposals has seemed to be a problem for the Administration since we began meeting in September. At that time, we tabled all of our proposals, including those dealing with monetary issues, in our initial exchange of proposals with the Administration. The University, however, tabled only non-monetary items and indicated that they were not yet prepared to table their proposals related to compensation issues. After some pressing by WLUFA, the Administration did – eventually – turn over their monetary proposals, as well as the data related to the university budget that WLUFA repeatedly requested. These delays are very curious to us, as both teams have known since June that they would be exchanging proposals in September. Your WLUFA bargaining team has worked very hard and very diligently to meet the deadlines agreed to and expected at the table. We don’t understand why delays by the Administration are necessary at this late date.

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS: Your WLUFA bargaining team has responded to a teaching-intensive proposal tabled by the Administration. We have proposed a special type of full-time faculty classification that we are calling a Professional Appointment. Our proposed position is a true full-time tenure-track or tenured position where faculty are appointed at the rank of Assistant, Associate or Professor. Faculty hired under the Professional Appointment classification will have all of the rights and responsibilities of a full-time tenure-track or full-time tenured faculty position. For example, their rights to serve on any committee, their compensation, their promotion and tenure, their eligibility to obtain course reductions and access to sabbaticals etc. are the same as any other full-time faculty member. The qualifications for a Professional Appointment position include a post-graduate degree and/or a professional designation and extensive professional experience. In disciplines where there is no recognized professional designation, professional experience may substitute for a professional designation.

In recognition of the expected scholarly contribution of Professional Appointees, the proposed definitions of scholarship have been expanded to publications and/or presentations in credible professional forums, scholarship in teaching, and development of curriculum and programs of study.

Since the principal scholarly contributions of faculty appointed to Professional Appointments will be based on their professional experience and not on original research, they will be assigned a teaching load that is greater than the current full-time faculty teaching load. WLUFA’s proposed increased load, however, also recognizes that Professional Appointees are to be fully-engaged members of their departments and programs, and of the university community as a whole.

Our proposal has limited these appointments to the Department of Business, Faculty of Social Work and Laurier Brantford programs in Business Technology Management, Journalism and Organizational Leadership.

We believe that this proposal will address the Administration’s concern for extra teaching capacity and the interests of our members who have been teaching for many years under Limited Term Appointments in these areas.

CONCILIATION: Requesting conciliation has been a common practice for WLUFA negotiating teams in many negotiations in the past and, historically, it has been necessary in order to reach a tentative agreement. Conciliation may be requested at any time during negotiations by either WLUFA or the Administration. Your WLUFA negotiating team and WLUFA Executive have been carefully planning our course of action in these negotiations since the initial planning process began last February.

With this in mind, your WLUFA team has decided to file for conciliation sometime near the end of November. This is seen to be a necessary step that we must take in order to expedite the progress of these negotiations. As of Tuesday, November 22, the WLUFA team has also informed the University of this decision.

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DID YOU KNOW…

OUR PENSIONS AND HEALTH BENEFITS

ARE UNDER ATTACK?

The following is a copy of the CAS agreement: Collective Agreement between Wilfrid Laurier University and Wilfrid Laurier University Faculty Association for Part-time Contract Academic Staff and Part-time Librarians – September 1, 2010 to August 31, 2013