(Originally delivered as an email from WLUFA President, Michele Kramer, to Regular Faculty and Librarians on December 21, 2016.)
Late last week, Members received an update on the negotiations for a new Contract Faculty and Part-time Librarian Collective Agreement from the CF Negotiating Team. As indicated, our first day in conciliation didn’t produce much hope for our team and the Association Executive advisors who were there to support them.
While we are attempting to maintain positive attitudes about the possibility that our next conciliation day (January 5th) might bring us closer to a possible agreement, the Administration’s last words to us on December 14th implied that we should prepare to be disappointed.
With this in mind, our Strike Action Committee will be working through the holidays in preparation for any possible job action that may result from a stalled bargaining process (No Board Report) on January 5th.
Over the coming weeks, you will receive some updates about our Contract Faculty negotiations, as well as suggestions for ways in which you can show your support for your precariously-employed colleagues. We hope that you’ll do what you can, when you can, to offer your support.
As you can imagine, this isn’t information that our Contract Faculty unit is happy to be taking into their Winter/Holiday/Christmas break.
WLUFA wishes you all the best of the season — and hoping that we’ll all keep our Contract Faculty colleagues in mind as we celebrate the season.