WLUFA

There will be ratification meetings to discuss and vote on the tentative agreement for the Full-time Bargaining Unit at the locations listed below. Please note that further details about the voting process will be sent to Members early next week.

Brantford Campus
Date: Monday, March 12, 2012
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Place: SCJ 127 – SC Johnson Building, 38 Market Street

Waterloo Campus
Date: Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Place: Senate & Board Chambers

An Open Letter to Students from WLUFA

WLUFA  Bargaining Update

 By Bill Salatka

I have written this newsletter for the benefit of those Members who were unable to attend the bargaining unit meetings held before reading week.  In order to explain the bargaining activities between WLUFA and the Administration, it is necessary to understand the bargaining priorities of each party. 

The bargaining priorities of the Administration are:

1.  Increased pension contributions by Members and reduced benefits for inflation protections for retirees,
2. Professional teaching positions,
3. Increased costs for retiree health benefits, and
4. Changes in the Library management structure.

 The bargaining priorities of WLUFA are

1. Fair compensation, and
2. Custody and control of Member files.

 Both parties were in conciliation on February 8 and February 9.  The Conciliator, who is appointed by the Ministry of Labour, works with both parties in an attempt to reach a negotiated settlement. Sometimes the Conciliator brings full bargaining teams together.  At other times, the Conciliator asks for the chief negotiators and just a few bargaining team members to meet with him or her. In these smaller meetings, generally negotiation is done without prejudice.  This means that offers and counter-offers are not binding in the future. 

During conciliation both WLUFA and the Administration attempted to clear off items that appeared to be getting in the way of an agreement.  Both parties also continued to negotiate language for the Professional Teaching Position.  For these positions, WLUFA is seeking the usual protections for the assignment of workload, a non-teaching term, and access to start-up funding.

Pensions were also negotiated during conciliation.  The major disagreement is the degree and nature of inflation protection available to future retirees. In the table below, we have illustrated what the changes to the pension plan the Administration is seeking would mean if applied to the period 1991 to 2010. The right-hand column shows the impact their proposals will have on our pension fund if we accept them.

 During conciliation WLUFA continued to press the Administration for a revised compensation proposal.  The Administration continually refused to do so.  The Conciliator suggested that WLUFA provide a compensation proposal without prejudice, that is, a non-binding offer.  WLUFA did so.  After an extended period of time, the Administration produced an offer that provided small improvements over current cash compensation. 

That offer on its own might seem good, but it is not since both cash compensation and the pension fund effects must be taken into account when assessing total compensation.  WLUFA found the offer inadequate on a total compensation basis when the increased cash contributions to the pension fund by Members and reductions in inflation protection were taken into account.   At that point, WLUFA asked the Conciliator for a “no-board” report.  

The “no-board” report was filed with the Minister of Labour on February 15^th.  Mediation will take place on February 29 and March 1. The Conciliator will now serve in the role of Mediator.  On or after March 3 WLUFA can call for a strike if it is necessary. The Administration is also in a position to lock us out at that time. Neither party is required or obligated to call for a strike or lockout on or after March 3.  However, a legal strike or legal lockout is a possibility after midnight on March 3. 

I want to point out that this is part of the normal process of collective bargaining.  The March 3^rd date puts pressure on both parties to come to an agreement.  In the past two years, Faculty Associations and Administrations all across Ontario have bargained hard right up to the deadlines, generally coming to an agreement at the last minute.

Letter to President Judy Bates from OTF February 13, 2012:

Ontario Teachers’ Federation Supports WLUFA

Friday, Feb. 9, 2:00 am

NEGOTIATIONS REACH AN IMPASSE

The team spent more than 12 hours at the table on Wednesday and has worked since 9:00 am on Thursday morning until now. Unfortunately, all our hard work has failed to result in an agreement. We remain at an impasse with the administration and we have requested a ‘no board report’ from the conciliator.

The administration still insists that we move to its position on the pension plan, increasing our contributions and weakening indexing, and has rejected our proposals on compensation. The administration has publicly stated its desire to compensate Laurier faculty on a competitive basis with faculty at other Ontario universities. Unfortunately, if WLUFA accepted the administration’s current offer, we would continue to be among the lowest paid academic staff in Ontario. This is at a time when the university has generated record surpluses.

The WLUFA team has worked hard to create a highly innovative article for professional teaching positions, but we have failed to reach an agreement on fair working conditions for these prospective Members.

The last compensation offer by the administration was derisory and left the team with no option but to seek a ‘no board’ report. We are certainly prepared to continue negotiations in mediation but we will need a strong strike vote to press for a satisfactory settlement. If you have not voted yet please support your team by doing so.

The ballot boxes at Brantford and the WLUFA office will close at 3pm today.

Bargaining unit meetings will be called as soon as possible next week.

Judy Bates, WLUFA President

January 27, 2012

The Bargaining Unit meetings scheduled for February 1st have been postponed. The Administration and WLUFA are still in conciliation, attempting to negotiate a renewal of the Collective Agreement. The parties have agreed to meet again on February 1st, and with the assistance of the conciliator, on February 6, 8 and 9.

The Bargaining Unit meeting has been re-scheduled for Tuesday, February 7, 2012.

We should have a clearer picture of progress in negotiations by the end of the day on February 6th.

Bargaining Unit Meetings

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