Defence Fund President's Report to CAUT Council
Fall 2012

Since my last report to CAUT Council I am pleased to inform Council there have not been any strikes or lockouts of our member unions. This past year the Defence Fund member unions grew to fifty (50) with the addition of the University of Toronto, Concordia University of Alberta Faculty Association and the Brescia Faculty Association.

I would like to thank all the 2011-12 Defence Fund Committees for their work throughout the past year; especially the Planning and Policy Committee members, Denise Nevo, Albert Katz, Bob Rosebrugh, Larry Hale and the Secretary of the Fund, Peter Simpson for the excellent work developing the recommendations presented to the Annual General Meeting of Defence Fund Trustees held in Toronto, October 20-21. A word of caution from the Committee on the trend of strike support, “expenditures over the past two decades make it clear that strikes by member unions are becoming much larger. Longer strikes and higher strike benefits both contribute to the trend. In the past five fiscal years, strike support totals nearly $5.5 million, or close to 24% of today’s assets of the Fund.”

The Trustees decided to rotate the Annual General Meeting between Toronto and Montreal in future years. On the recommendation of the P & P Committee the strike pay will increase from $80 per day per member to $84, which will trigger a dues increase from $5.00 to $5.25 as of February 2013. The amount of monthly dues has not increased in over twenty years.

The Federal and Provincial governments have not made collective bargaining any easier with our employers. Over the past few years the negotiating climate has drastically changed for unions in both the private and public sector. Negotiators are facing administrators at the bargaining table who are trying to capitalize on the misinformed public who perceive public sector wages, benefits and pensions as the reason for government deficits.

The CAUT staff once again made our AGM run smoothly, thank you Nancy Gordon, Anik Godbout, Gord Piché and Peter Simpson for the excellent support over this past year.

Respectively submitted in solidarity,

Brian E. Brown
President, CAUT Defence Fund