This week, after a successful initiative to represent faculty holding limited term appointments of twelve months or longer at UOIT, we made an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to merge all faculty we represent into a single bargaining unit. This is in direct response to historic and ongoing discussions within the Faculty Association which would bring us in line with how bargaining is conducted by most Faculty Associations at other universities. Recent changes through Bill 148, Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, allow us to apply for this consolidation.
We will be hosting a townhall on the consolidation on Thursday May 10th at 1pm in UA 3130.
Please watch out for a calendar invitation shortly.
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What does consolidation mean?
you will continue to enjoy your current terms and conditions of employment
any changes must be negotiated, and we will continue to follow our normal consultation processes with you in future negotiations;
better use of our time and resources in negotiating improved working conditions for our members
with three separate agreements, we are more divided and overstretched, whereas consolidation would allow us to focus our collective efforts;
bargaining processes closer to those practiced at other universities
we have and will continue to work closely with the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations and the Canadian Association of University Teachers as they support us in this effort to more closely align ourselves with other member associations; as one example, we are the only Association in Canada to have a separate collective agreement for full-time continuing teaching-stream faculty;
improved labour relations
with three separate bargaining units, we risk being in a legal strike position every year. Discussions of such job actions can be very stressful for some of our members, and harmful to the reputation of the University. While we cannot eliminate the use of such vocabulary, we can certainly limit such actions by consolidating our agreements;
strength in numbers while still respecting the diversity of each faculty group
there is a strong precedent across the country for including tenured, tenure-track, teaching, and limited term appointment faculty in a single agreement, which in turn would empower us to negotiate more strongly for all faculty we represent.
If you have any questions, please get in touch with us below or drop by the office.