Fall 1999 – Report from the CAUT Defence Fund

Not much has happened since the last meeting of Council. The Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) came very close to a strike at the end of August 1999. On August 31, the Fund was called upon by LUFA to provide support. Trustees met by conference call and unanimously approved payment of strike benefits, as well as a loan to cover benefit payments, and a line of credit. A tentative agreement was reached at the eleventh hour and the strike was averted. However, to everyone’s dismay, LUFA reported at the Annual General Meeting of the Board of Trustees, held in Montreal on October 15, 1999, that the administration later rescinded agreement on important financial matters, that the agreement was not ratified by the Board of Governors, and that the two sides had gone back to the bargaining table. Morale was reported as being very low.

Membership in the Fund currently totals 29 member associations representing over 12,000 academics across Canada. A representative of the University of Regina Faculty Association was invited to the October 15 meeting in Montreal, and it is hoped that URFA will soon join the Fund.

After consideration of proposals from the Planning and Policy Committee, the Trustees approved two new policies. The first one calls for written reports on the state of negotiations at each member association to be made available to Trustees in advance of annual meetings. This new practice should allow for more profitable interaction during meetings and provide useful, long-lasting written documentation to all Trustees. The second is a revision of the existing policy for sending visitors from member associations to demonstrate in support of member associations engaged in a strike or lockout. The Trustees also approved to maintain the investment policy currently in place.

The Trustees re-elected Bill Schrank (Memorial) as Treasurer, Alex Kondra (Acadia) as Chair of the Membership Committee and Ben Meyer (Windsor) as Chair of the Investment Committee. As I became the new Chair of the Fund, I retired as Chair of the Planning and Policy Committee. This position was taken by Karen Zoppa (Winnipeg).

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks Bob Rosebrugh, who retired at the October 15 meeting of Trustees after serving three years as Chair of the Defence Fund, for doing such a great job during three very trying years. There were five strikes (including YUFA’s, the longest ever experienced by a member association - and by far the most costly) and several close calls that required Trustees to meet by conference call, during his three-year tenure. When Bob took over from Martin King, in October 1997, he said, in thanking Martin, that he believed "Martin was the first Chair whose term included a strike at his own university". Well, Bob managed to do just that himself! As we are preparing for our next round of negotiations at my own university, I have to hope that Martin and Bob have not started a new, unescapable trend for Chairs of the Defence Fund... However, Bob’s timing was quite clever: he boarded a plane on his way to sunny and hot Australia at the very hour when his MAFA colleagues were hitting the streets on their first picket duty, in 20 below zero temperatures! By the time Bob returned to Sackville, the long strike was over!

I am pleased to report that at year end, in June 1999, the Fund’s assets had for the first time exceeded $10 million. However, we must not be fooled by this seemingly enormous amount of money. Strikes are very costly, the last few years have shown that they are much more numerous and last far longer than before, and this trend threatens to continue, and perhaps worsen. Many associations are currently engaged, or about to engage, in renewed collective bargaining. It is hoped that they will reach fair and equitable agreements in the true spirit of collective bargaining. However, the Defence Fund has to stand ready to help each and everyone of them, should the need arise, and the $10 million are true reassurance that we can do just that.

In closing, I would like to extend my appreciation to the Trustees of the Fund for choosing me as the new Chair, and to the CAUT staff for the support I already started to received from them.

Respectfully submitted,

Denise Nevo, Chairperson
CAUT Defence Fund
November 1999