Defence Fund President's Report to CAUT Council – November 2005

Defence Fund President's Report to CAUT Council
November 2005

Defence Fund Trustees were called back to duty relatively early, as they had to hold a teleconference on August 18, 2005, due to the rapid deterioration of the negotiating climate at Laurentian University. Following a still enigmatic tactic, that university's administrators were to provoke almost two entire months of suspense by placing the Faculty Association in repeated strike deadline situations up until October 10, Thanksgiving Day. After about sixty "negotiating" meetings since April 2005, after dozens of hours of conciliation and mediations, it will only be in presence of a second mediator, less than thirty hours away from a strike deadline, that administrators did finally propose settlement conditions within the parameters of the demands formulated by the Association. At the end of that Monday evening, following a few hours of intense bargaining, the LUFA negotiating team had on its hotel table a collective agreement able to satisty the needs of the membership, which will ratify it on October 19, 2005, by 94.6%. A 97.2% strike mandate had been previously given to LUFA on September 1, 2005. It must be said that strike preparations had started in earnest as early as mid-August. Throughout September and October, strike committees met several times a week, a barbecue was held for the 100 new faculty hired since 2002, where detailed explanations were given regarding a strike, the role of the CAUT Defence Fund, including strike pay and the coming of Flying Pickets. LUFA also conducted a campaign to inform students as well as other unions, on and out of campus, of the issues at stake; it received positive support from every group, including the Canadian Federation of Students. The CFS representative in Sudbury produced a brochure titled "Faculty Working Conditions are Students' Learning Conditions", describing the facts and urging students to put pressure upon the president of the university. On September 19, our Picket Captain decided to have portable toilets installed at each of the four campus entrances; from then on, these silent sentinels would remind everyone entering campus of the determination of faculty. They were left there until after the ratification vote.

Brandon University also had difficult negotiations, which led Defence Fund Trustees to vote, on October 1, 2005, unanimously in favour of supporting BUFA in case of a strike or lock-out. A memorandum of settlement was finally to be ratified on October 26, 2005.

The Board of Trustees met in Montreal on October 1, 2005. On that morning, an orientation session for new trustees was held for the first time.

The Planning and Policy Committee Report was adopted, including details regarding the Elections Committee consisting of the chairperson of the board and three to four trustees, which will receive (starting in 2006-2007) nominations throughout the year for election to positions of officers and committee members.

Other decisions include:

  • An amendment to Standing Rule 6.4.2 allowing the extension of a line of credit if necessary to cover expenses in preparation for a strike.
  • A resolution whereby donations may be made in the name of the Board of Trustees of the CAUT Defence Fund to honour the memory of a serving or recent member of the Board of Trustees. Such donations must be approved by the Chairperson of the Board, the Treasurer, and the Secretary.
  • A new brochure outlining the roles and responsibilities of trustees and alternates has been distributed and the Chairperson of the Board has been given the responsibility of producing and periodically updating (as mandated by the Board) this brochure.
  • The Membership Committee, besides producing the aforementioned brochure, reported that it had contacted the newly unionised St. Francis Xavier University's Faculty Association and that the President of the Defence Fund had also met with STFXAUT representatives at CAUT Council in the Spring 2005. The new union was not prepared to join the Defence Fund yet.

Elections were held and Richard Blute (Ottawa) was reelected as Chairperson of the Board for 2005-2007. Dennis Felbel (Manitoba) was acclaimed again as Treasurer for 2005-2007. The committees were formed as follows:

  • Planning and Policy Committee: Albert Katz (Western) - Chair, Judy Bates (Wilfrid Laurier), Denise Nevo (Mount St. Vincent) and Robert Rosebrugh (Mount Allison).
  • Membership Committee: Angela Lonardo (Memorial) - Chair, William Osei (Algoma), and David Tindall (Dalhousie).
  • Investment Committee: Charles Draimin (Concordia) - Chair, Ann Bigelow (Western), Larry Hale (UPEI), and Amin Mawani (York).

Since last CAUT Council, Defence Fund Trustees had to deplore the passing of two esteemed and distinguished colleagues, David Frost, from Concordia, in May, 2005, and, only two weeks after the annual meeting this October, Paul Fortier, from the University of Manitoba. A donation in their memory was made by the Defence Fund in each case. They will be missed immensely.

I am very grateful for the assistance and support I receive from the CAUT staff, as well as for their continuing efficient work in the administration of the Defence Fund.

In solidarity, and respectfully submitted by

Jean-Charles Cachon
President and Trustee (Laurentian)
November 2005