Defence Fund President's Report to CAUT Council
Spring 2007
In my first report to CAUT Council as President of the CAUT Defence Fund (DF), I suggested that a rough road lay ahead in the immediate few months. Employers appeared to be prepared to play some hard ball at the bargaining table, and several member associations of the DF were preparing their constituencies for the possibility of strike action. Likewise, Trustees of the DF were counselled to be prepared for a greater than usual number of applications for strike benefits, and to keep their travel agent on speed dial.
As it turns out, there will have been no academic labour stoppages during the 2006-07 academic year. All outstanding negotiations have been settled, with the sole exception of Bishop’s University (APBU) where arbitration is being sought by the union.
There have been some close calls. As reported in the fall, academic staff at Carleton University (CUASA) had just come within 3.5 hours of striking. In early December, academic staff Brock University (BUFA) came within one day of taking their job action. Both were settled with the help of last-minute mediation.
Since then, eight other member associations have settled on new collective agreements without having to set a strike date. Of these:
- two were first contracts [St. Francis Xavier University (StFXAUT); Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSMFA)]
- four had a strike mandate from their membership [Cape Breton University (CBUFA); Université Sainte-Anne (APPBUSA); University of Western Ontario (UWOFA); Saint Mary’s University (SMUFU)]
- five reached an agreement with the help of a mediator or conciliator [CBUFA; UWOFA; SMUFU; APPBUSA; York University (YUFA)], all in addition to CUASA and BUFA
Members of l’Association des professeures, professeurs et bibliothécaires de l’Université Sainte-Anne (APPBUSA) are to be particularly commended for their resilience in the face of an extraordinarily difficult set of negotiations. With their contract having expired more than two years previously, a tentative agreement was reached in October 2006, only to have the Employer subsequently refuse to honour it. The DF assured the membership of the APPBUSA that it continued to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with them, and a resolution was finally achieved in late January 2007.
The success of APPBUSA is very much emblematic of the power of a strike fund with nearly $19 million in assets. Even very small associations can negotiate with confidence and resolve, secure in the knowledge that both the threat and the effectuation of strike action are viable bargaining tactics. That is translating into good working conditions for academic staff across the country.
As always, the fine work Gordon Piche, Nancy Gordon and others at CAUT on behalf of the DF must be applauded. With no strike solidarity visits this academic year, trustees have only had to make a few phone calls, and write and/or respond to a few emails. It falls to Gordon and Nancy to assure that the financial and organizational affairs of the DF stay in top shape.
In February, the DF received an application for membership from the University of Guelph Faculty Association (UGFA). This application is to be considered by the Trustees in the month of April. If approved, the membership of the DF will rise to 38 certified member associations, representing approximately 19,000 academic staff nationwide.
The Priorities and Planning Committee of the DF is preparing for it’s meeting in May, from which will come several recommendations for consideration by the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees, to be held in Winnipeg this October. The decisions reached by the board will be reported to the Fall 2007 meeting of CAUT council.
In solidarity, and respectfully submitted by,
Larry Hale
President and Trustee (UPEI)
March 20, 2007