More Details on Digital Picketing

Back in December, AUFA’s Job Action Committee (JAC) provided an overview of flying (i.e., in-person) and digital picketing. As a potential strike and/or lockout looms, this post provides additional details about digital picketing during the first few weeks of any work stoppage. An earlier post this week provided some additional details on flying pickets. 

Overview of Digital Pickets 

If a strike or lockout occurs, AUFA will be organizing four kinds of digital picketing to start with: 

• recruiting individuals to sign AUFA’s online petition,  

• sharing materials on social media,  

• contacting selected individuals (administrators, university donors, MLAs) by phone and email, and  

• contacting non-striking staff to check in on them and ask them to honour our picket line. 

Each day AUFA members will receive updated instructions about digital picketing activities.  

Some forms of digital picketing will entail the use of email or social media accounts. Members interested in creating anonymous email and social media accounts can follow these instructions. 

Instructions for email: Disposable email account - How to.pdf

Instructions for social media:  Disposable Twitter account - How to.pdf

Recruiting Individuals to Sign AUFA’s Online Petition 

AUFA will be launching an online petition that emails each petition signature to key actors at AU. Petition signatories will be pledging not to enroll in an AU course and not to recommend AU to others until a fair deal is concluded. The purposes of the petition are to: 

• easily allow allies and the public to support us, and 

• apply reputational and financial pressure to settle by demonstrating large numbers of interested students are refraining from registering in AU courses until the strike ends.  

Individual AUFA members will be asked to use their networks of family, friends, colleagues, and acquaintances to solicit five (or more!) signatures per day. This work will supplement our in-person leafletting work with current PSE students on campuses that send AU significant numbers of visiting students. 

What to do: 

• Each day, contact five people you know individually by phone, video chat, email, text, or by seeing them in person. If you are nervous about this, start close to home with family and friends. 

• Explain you are on strike, and that you need two minutes of their time to help us get a fair deal. 

• Ask them to sign the online petition (link and QR code provided). 

What not to do: 

• Do not mass email your contact list; that approach is ineffective. Personalized communications matter. 

Sharing Materials on Social Media 

AUFA will be providing a daily shareable (e.g., photos, memes, infographics) for members to share on social media. The purposes of these shareables are to: 

• generate public awareness of the strike by flooding social media spaces,  

• apply reputational pressure on the employer to settle, and  

• drive traffic to our online petition. 

What to do: 

• Share the memes on your social media accounts (e.g., Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Reddit, TikTok, and so on). 

• Where a social media platform uses tags, ensure you use: #AUFAStrike #AthabascaU 

• Express how the employer’s behaviour is affecting you, such as “I’m tired to being treated poorly”, “I miss my students”, or “I’d rather be working”. 

• If you would like to add your own comments to a post, consider making a clear demand, such as “negotiate a fair deal” or “fair wages now”. 

• Direct interested people to our online petition. 

What not to do: 

• Do not engage with online trolls; they are not making good-faith arguments, are a waste of time, and are best ignored and/or blocked.  

Contacting Selected Individuals by Phone or Email 

AUFA will be providing a rotating list of the names, emails, and/or phone numbers of selected individuals for members to contact. These individuals are people who may be able to help us get a fair deal. This list will include members of Athabasca University’s Board of Governors and Executive Group, as well as donors, and MLAs. The purposes of these contacts are to: 

• generate awareness of the strike among key audiences, and 

• apply pressure (social, reputational, and financial) on the Board to settle. 

What to do: 

• Each day, contact the identified individuals by phone or email. 

• Explain you are on strike, and you need their help to get a fair deal. 

• Ask Board and executive members to negotiate a fair deal. 

• Ask donors to stop donating to AU for the duration of the strike and to tell AU that they plan to halt any donation until AUFA gets a fair contract. 

• Ask MLAs to direct AU’s Board to negotiate a fair deal. 

What not to do: 

• Do not mass email individuals; as noted above, that approach is ineffective. 

Contacting Non-Striking Staff to Check-in and Ask for Support 

AUPE and CUPE staff will continue to work during a strike. This will be a stressful time for our colleagues. We will be asking AUFA members to call a small number of our non-striking colleagues each day to check in on them.  

During this call, you might also tell them how the strike is going for you and thank them for declining to perform AUFA work during the strike. The purposes of these calls are to: 

• ensure non-striking staff are okay, 

• convey general information about the strike to non-striking staff, and 

• ensure they are aware they can refuse to perform struck work. 

What to do: 

• Each day, contact a few non-striking staff that you know. 

• Have a short, polite chat about how they are doing and also how the strike is going. 

• Thank them for their hard work and for respecting the AUFA strike.  

What not to do: 

• Do not keep people on the phone for longer than 10 minutes. 

• Do not call anyone who has asked you not to call them. 

JAC hopes this additional information is helpful in explaining what digital picketing will look like initially. As the strike and/or lockout goes on, we may change tactics.  

If you have questions about digital picketing, please direct them to me at barnetso@athabascau.ca . 

Bob Barnetson, Chair 

Job Action Committee 

More Details on In-Person Picketing

Back in December, AUFA’s Job Action Committee (JAC) provided an overview of flying (i.e., in-person) and digital picketing. As a potential strike and/or lockout looms, this post provides additional details about flying pickets during the first few weeks of a work stoppage. Tomorrow, JAC will provide more detail about digital picketing. 

Overview of Flying Pickets 

 If a strike or lockout occurs, AUFA will be organizing three kinds of flying pickets to start with:  

• traditional picketing,  

• leafleting post-secondary students, and  

• flyering neighbourhoods in Athabasca.  

Flying pickets will run for 90- to 120-minutes each. The tentative schedule of events is: 

• Athabasca: Wednesdays (picketing, flyering) 

• Calgary: tentatively Wednesdays (picketing, leafletting) 

• Edmonton: Tuesdays and Thursdays (picketing, leafletting) 

• Toronto: To be determined (leafletting) 

The specific events, their timing, and their locations will vary from day to day. The weekly schedule will be communicated each Friday. Before each event, members will receive details (e.g., location, parking, purpose) specific to the event.  

Traditional Picketing 

Picketing typically entails a group of people walking or standing in a public place (such as a sidewalk, boulevard, or greenspace) outside of an AU building or near a busy intersection holding signs. The goals of picketing are to make the public aware of the strike (i.e., apply reputational and financial pressure) and build member morale.  

What to do: 

• Talk with your colleagues and enjoy yourself. 

• Engage with the public in a friendly manner (e.g., wave at cars, say hello to pedestrians). 

• If a member of the public wants to chat, politely explain what is happening. 

• If a member of the public wants to help, hand them a leaflet (supplied by AUFA) or direct them to the event organizer. 

What not to do: 

• Do not come if you are unwell. 

• Do not block or impede the public’s use of sidewalks, streets, or driveways. 

• Do not confront or argue with members of the public (this almost never happens anyway). 

• Do not do interviews with the media; please direct them to the event organizer. 

What to wear: 

• A mask, hat, and sunscreen. 

• Clothing appropriate for the weather; assume it will be 10 degrees colder than expected. 

• Good shoes—you will be standing a lot on hard surfaces. 

What to bring: 

• A picket sign if you have one (we will have sticks and staples onsite as well as extra signs). You will also be able to borrow one on-site. 

• A folding chair if appropriate (yes for greenspace; no for sidewalks). 

• Water and a snack. 

• A friend or colleague. 

Each event will be run by one or more organizers who will be able to answer questions and sort out unexpected events. 

Leafleting Post-Secondary Students 

Leafleting entails a small group of people in a public space quietly handing out leaflets, engaging in one-on-one conversations with students, and asking them to sign our online petition. This might include a food court, hallway, or transit station on or near a college, polytechnic, or university. The primary goal is to make potential AU visiting students aware of the strike, and to get them to pledge to not enroll in or recommend others attend AU until the strike is resolved.  

What to do: 

• Work individually or in pairs; keep other AUFA members in sight. 

• Approach a student, explain who you are, and ask if you can talk to them for 2 minutes. 

• Outline the strike situation (script provided) and explain why we’re seeking their help. 

• Ask them if they will agree to not register at AU during the strike. 

• If so, ask them to sign the petition (QR code on leaflet takes their phone to it). 

What not to do: 

• Do not come if you are unwell. 

• Do not wear a sign, parade in front of an entrance, or gather in large groups (that is picketing behaviour, and this is leafleting). 

• Do not attempt to interfere with people going about their business. 

• Do not confront or argue with members of the public (this almost never happens anyway). 

• Do not bother people who decline your initial request to chat. 

• Do not do interviews with the media; please direct them to the event organizer.  

What to wear: 

• A mask and clothing appropriate for the location. 

• Good shoes—you will be standing a lot on hard surfaces. 

What to bring: 

• Your phone. 

• A friend or colleague. 

Each event will be run by one or more organizers, who will be able to answer questions and sort out unexpected events.  

If you are asked to leave the premises by a representative of the post-secondary institution, please indicate you will comply and then walk the person making the request to the organizer who will address the issue.  

Flyering in Athabasca 

Flyering entails a small group of people placing handbills in mailboxes. The primary goal is to raise awareness of the strike with residents of Athabasca, who have a particular interest in good wages and working conditions and the future of AU, as well as to get them to sign our online petition.  

What to do: 

• Work individually or in pairs; keep other AUFA members in sight. 

• Place a flyer (supplied) in a residential mailbox or tape it to their door. 

• If a resident asks what the flyer is about, explain we’re seeking their help. 

• Ask them to sign the petition (QR code on flyer takes their phone to it). 

What not to do: 

• Do not come if you are unwell. 

• Do not confront or argue with members of the public (this almost ever happens anyway). 

• Do not do interviews with the media; please direct them to the event organizer. 

What to wear: 

• A mask, hat, and sunscreen. 

• Clothing appropriate for the weather; assume it will be 10 degrees colder than expected. 

• Good shoes—you will be walking a lot on hard surfaces. 

What to bring: 

• Your phone. 

• A friend or colleague. 

Each event will be run by one or more organizers, who will be able to answer questions and sort out unexpected events. 

JAC hopes this additional information is helpful in explaining what flying pickets will look like initially. As the strike and/or lockout goes on, we may change tactics. Additional information about digital picketing will be forthcoming tomorrow. 

If you have questions about in-person picketing, please direct them to me at barnetso@athabascau.ca . 

Bob Barnetson, Chair 

Job Action Committee 

Strike Planning Update: A Funny Valentine

As you might recall, earlier this year the Job Action Committee (JAC) struck a special ad hoc subcommittee and tasked it with generating strike materials to support flying and digital pickets, including signs, online shareables, and leaflets for use in the event of a work stoppage. 

Since then, the Materials Committee (MC), made up of Eric Strikwerda (Chair), Corina Dransutavicius, Ian Grivois, Suzanne McCullagh, Mike Voaklander, Tamara Jackson, and Jonathan Leggo, organized a productive introductory meeting, and started the work of developing multiple themes, digital campaigns, and social media strategies. The MC has also benefitted from valuable input from AUFA members following a call-out for ideas two weeks ago. 

Our first major campaign capitalizes on the strong response to JAC’s Christmas e-card shareables generated in December of last year. 

In the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, then, the MC will roll out over the next two weeks a series of Valentine’s Day e-cards meant to encourage AU to make AUFA a fair contract offer. The MC will share the e-cards on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When you encounter the cards on your own social media feeds, we hope you’ll share them widely! 

Your Turn 

We’re also hoping to draw on AUFA members’ creative powers by helping us come up with Valentine’s Day messages to fill the cards. The messages can be funny, punny, or anything in-between. Please email me directly (erics@athabascau.ca) with any ideas you come up with. 

Eric Strikwerda, Chair 

Materials Committee 

Strike Planning Update: Committees start to spin up

AUFA’s Executive has directed the Job Action Committee (JAC) to be ready to strike no later than March 15. Whether or not we’ll see a work stoppage remains uncertain and is largely contingent on bargaining reaching impasse, AUFA and the employer completing a legislated mediation process, and the outcome of a member strike vote. This blog provides an update on strike planning.

Provisional Strike Structure

At its December meeting, AUFA’s Executive has developed a provisional structure (below) detailing AUFA’s work stoppage task allocation, reporting lines, and broader strategy. This structure assumes AUFA members’ approval of the strike pay and picketing recommendations at Wednesday’s townhall. The structure is also likely to evolve as work-stoppage preparation continues.

To meet the March 15 strike-readiness deadline, AUFA’s Executive authorized JAC to begin populating the committees that report to it. The first committee JAC has formed is the Materials Committee.

Materials Committee

The Materials Committee is responsible for generating strike materials to support flying and digital picketing, such as signs, online shareables, and leaflets. The committee will also be responsible for maintaining AUFA’s blog during the work stoppage. The committee presently comprises Eric Strikwerda (chair), Corina Dransutavicius, Ian Grivois, Jonathan Leggo, Mike Voaklander, Suzanne McCullagh, and Tamara Jackson. It held its first meeting last week.

Unions often run multi-strand social media campaigns during work stoppages, with different messages for different audiences at different times. Some messages will be critical, targeting the employer directly, and designed to attach a reputational cost to the employer’s behaviour. AUFA-generated memes in support of the Concordia University of Edmonton strike are an example of that approach. Other times, unions will run more positive messages aimed at sustaining member morale, for instance, or that will target different audiences (e.g., students, the public).

The Materials Committee is seeking AUFA member input (see questions below) about possible issues, themes, slogans, and multimedia ideas that, together, will bolster AUFA’s social media presence in the event of a work stoppage. We are especially interested in hearing your thoughts on different targeted audiences, as well as the intended effect of each idea. You can fill out the form below as many times as you like. As always, all submissions are anonymous. You can also email ideas and images to Eric Strikwerda (erics@athabascau.ca).

Eric Strikwerda, Chair

AUFA Materials Committee

JAC Volunteers Needed

JAC is seeking AUFA members willing to perform between 1 and 3 hours of online research between now and February 15. The research entails conducting online searches for contact information of between 10 and 15 AU donors and entering your findings into an online form.

This research will give JAC the option of contacting AU donors during a work stoppage to exert reputational and financial pressure on AU to settle. We have over 300 past donors identified and need some assistance to work through them all. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Bob Barnetson (barnetso@athabascau.ca).

Bob Barnetson, Chair

Job Action Committee

Your Turn

Solidarity picket and shifting offers at U of A

On Friday, 20 AUFA members joined about 200 academic and non-academic staff at a lunch-hour picket at the University of Alberta. The academic and non-academic staff associations have been frustrated by threats of rollbacks and a lack of progress at the table. Thanks to these AUFA members, who spent their lunch hour showing solidarity. Faculty members from MacEwan and NAIT were also in attendance.

The U of A denied staff permission to picket on campus, so an initial rally was held on the sidewalk on 87th Avenue. U of A workers then proceeded to lead a march though campus, chanting “Whose campus? Our campus!” before rallying in the quad.

On the same day, the U of A’s admin posted a surprise new offer to its faculty association. The nub of the U of A’s proposed settlement is:

• A four-year salary freeze, ending in June of 2024.

• Further negotiations to slow the growth of faculty salaries over their career. Absent success (i.e., revenue neutral solution) by February, the whole offer becomes void.

• Hard salary caps for lecturers (i.e., teaching-only faculty).

• All other demands for rollbacks would be withdrawn.

This shift away from the U of A’s early threats of massive rollbacks tell us a couple of things:

• Mandates have likely changed: The government has altered its secret mandate to the U of A’s administration (requiring salary rollbacks). Rumours suggest this mandate change is sector-wide, although we cannot yet confirm this. These same rumours suggest the new mandate is a series of wage freezes to spring of 2023 (cynically right before the next election), when there would be a small cost-of-living bump. This increase likely tracks the 1.25% increase AUPE accepted for government workers.

• Mandates change with pressure: What this tells us is that government interference in the collective bargaining process is not set in stone. Widespread UCP unpopularity and growing labour unrest likely means the UCP is hoping to avoid public-sector strikes by offering workers tiny increases. Additional pressure on public sector employers and the government may well result in further mandate changes.

• Progress is modest: The U of A’s new offer (four zeros) is better than its most recent offer (-3% and then three zeros). But, in the context of inflation of 4% or more per year, this still entails a large loss of purchasing power.

• Bad offers are a framing strategy: Proposing a series of harsh rollbacks only to walk away from most of them is a clear employer strategy. Its purpose is to frame a lousy offer as some kind of victory of workers (because we avoided an even worse offer), even though the actual offer is still lousy. The countermove to this employer strategy is maintaining a credible strike threat, forcing employers to move off their slightly-less-lousy offer to one that actually benefits workers.

The Association of Academic Staff: University of Alberta (AASUA) has filed an unfair labour practices complaint against the U of A regarding this offer. The crux of the complaint is that the U of A allegedly launched an end-run around the faculty association and is attempting to negotiate directly with the membership. The facts, according to the faculty association are:

• The last bargaining date was November 10, with no dates expected until the new year.

• The employer phoned the AAUSA bargaining chair late in the day on November 25 (as the chair was getting on a plane) and verbally explained a new offer would be coming by email. The union arranged a meeting of its bargaining team for today (November 29) to review the offer.

• Without notice to the union or any further discussion with the AASUA bargaining chair, the employer then posted the offer publicly on November 26, claiming that the offered had been ”tabled”.

This behaviour, according to the union, is not bargaining in good faith. The offer was never presented at the bargaining table and the union was not given sufficient opportunity to review and understand the offer and communicate it to its members. In effect, the employer is interfering with the union’s ability to represent its members. The sequence of events suggests that this was an intentional effort to undermine the union.

While the AASUA does not speculate about what the U of A hopes to achieve through this behaviour, one possibility is that the U of A is laying the groundwork for a proposal vote. Alberta’s Labour Relations Code allows each side one opportunity per round of bargaining to present an offer directly to the other side for a vote. If accepted, the offer becomes the new contract.

The subtext of the U of A’s November 26 communication is “this deal will let you avoid a strike.” What gets lost in that message is that the deal requires the faculty to take (another) wage freeze, slow salary growth, and throw teaching-only faculty under the bus. Making members aware of these important trade-offs and the corrosive effect of the employer’s wedge tactics is one of the roles of the union and, in part, why unions get so shirty when employers communicate directly with members.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch, AUFA’s bargaining team returns to the table on November 30th. AUFA continues to wait for AU to table the 14 articles that it withheld from its opening offer, including its monetary position. Progress is unlikely until AUFA can see and evaluate AU’s full offer. AUFA also continues to wait for the Alberta Labour Relations Board to hear the unfair labour practice complaint AUFA filed in September about AU’s unwilling to present a full offer.

Bob Barnetson, Chair

Job Action Committee

Strike prep: 500 days without a contract

Today marks the 500th day that AUFA members have been working without a contract. Indeed, we don’t even have a full opening offer from the employer yet. AU’s bad-faith bargaining is making it impossible to negotiate a new contract. Since the employer won’t bargain, AUFA’s Job Action Committee (JAC) has begun preparing for what seems like an inevitable strike.

A few weeks ago, JAC asked members to suggest tactics designed to pressure AU to agree to an acceptable contract settlement. A credible strike threat is necessary to get a fair deal at the table, and AUFA members should have some input into the tactics AUFA employs.

This blog outlines a high level overview of some of those member-suggested tactics. It also answers some of the questions AUFA members asked JAC. Over the coming weeks, JAC will discuss these tactics in some detail, as well as strategize when and how best to use them.

Suggested Tactics

The suggested tactics fall into three broad categories:

• Operational: When AUFA members withdraw their labour, AU processes that rely on AUFA members’ work will slow or stop.

• Financial: A strike (or its prospect) disincentivizes students to enrol in courses, thereby reducing institutional revenue.

• Reputational: Strike-related communications (before or during a strike) can do long-term damage to AU’s reputation as a good place to work or go to school.

AUFA members suggested four main operational tactics:

• a work slowdown or working to rule,

• refusing certain or additional work assignments,

• signing a “no scabbing” pledge with AUPE and CUPE, or

• fully withdrawing labour (i.e., a strike).

AUFA members suggested a number of ways to apply reputational pressure to AU. In these examples, please read “bosses” as meaning members of both AU’s executive and AU’s Board of Governors.

• contacting bosses and/or politicians (in person and electronically),

• bringing in a mediator to bargaining sessions (creating an observer effect),

• holding a non-confidence vote in AU’s bargaining team or the Board,

• conducting a media campaign highlighting AU’s bargaining position and behaviour,

• organizing information pickets (e.g., pickets, car convoys, leafleting) that target bosses and MLAs’ homes, offices, and businesses, as well as meetings of the Board of Governors,

• publicizing data related to bosses’ salaries and administrative bloat,

• informing and/or pressurizing the new president about how AU’s bargaining is affecting staff relations, and

• organizing a national campaign of censure over AU’s bargaining approach.

AUFA members suggested a number of ways to apply financial pressure to AU, including:

• organizing a student boycott for the duration of any work stoppage, and

• asking colleagues to refrain from recommending that students attend AU or accept transfer credits from AU until bargaining is settled.

A small number of members noted that a work stoppage would lead to students experiencing delays in completing their education. Other members identified the risk that reputational harm might persist after a new contract is settled.

Questions

Members asked a number of questions. JAC has endeavoured to answer them below.

Q: Will AU save money during a work stoppage?

A: AU’s expenses during a work stoppage will decline because it will not pay AUFA salaries or benefits. This means that, for a strike to be effective, the financial impact of a work stoppage on AU’s revenue must be sufficiently large to offset these savings.

Q: Will we lose our jobs if we strike?

A: Unlikely. Alberta’s Labour Relations Code bars employers from terminating staff for participating in a strike. Article 12 of our collective agreement does allow AU to lay off staff (with notice), but AU would only be permitted to do this if a) “the employer permanently discontinues some or all of its operations, or no longer employs employees to do certain work” or b) AU is able to show financial exigency.

It is of course possible that AU will trigger a reduction in tuition revenue by forcing AUFA to strike. But AU normally manages enrollment fluctuations by reducing CUPE members’ teaching loads, so the risk of layoffs resulting from a strike is very low.

Q: How will I afford to live during a work stoppage?

A: A few weeks ago, AUFA provided information about strike pay and benefits as well as strategies AUFA members may wish to use to prepare for the financial impact of a work stoppage.

Q: Will the reputational harm cause long-term damage to AU?

A: Maybe. AU’s approach to labour relations over the past few years (e.g., repeatedly seeking unnecessary rollbacks to our collective agreement, adopting an unnecessarily antagonistic approach to labour relations, trying to bust the union) has made AU a less attractive place to work. Forcing AUFA to strike would only reinforce this view. A strike would also make AU look like an unreliable provider of education. AU could avoid these outcomes by changing its behaviour, both at the bargaining table and in the workplace more generally.

Q: Why does AUFA use Lego graphics in its blog posts and information updates?

A: Lego is a low-cost way to create custom graphics that convey the gist of AUFA blog posts and information updates in a quick and accessible way. These graphics drive up readership of the blog in a way that clip-art posts or posts with no graphics do not. The graphics also attach costs to bad behaviour by AU’s executive (e.g., by lampooning them) which, over time, appears to reduce their willingness to continue behaving badly.

Q: What is the status of the unfair labour practice complaint AUFA filed?

A: AU has delayed the hearing of the unfair labour practice complaint (as well as AUFA’s application for an ESA exemption) by providing few dates when AU is available to attend Labour Board meetings and hearings as well as by continually asking AUFA for additional information.

Q: Why is AUFA talking about a strike while bargaining is still underway?

A: Planning a successful strike takes time, so we need to start now. Members also need time to prepare. Preparing publicly to strike gives AU time to recognize that the threat of a strike is real, to consider whether it wants to alter its behaviour to avoid one and, instead, to negotiate a new contract (which is the ultimate goal).

Q: Is it common to wait until the end of bargaining to negotiate wages?

A: Sometimes parties choose to negotiate language before tackling monetary issues (e.g., AU and AUPE Local 69 are doing this). This decision is often justified as being a way to gain momentum at the table before tackling harder issues like wages.

It is worth noting, however, that the supposed dichotomy between monetary and non-monetary issues is a false one. Almost every piece of contract language has monetary implications.

One of the consequences of settling language issues before talking money is that doing so reduces the number of bargaining chips available to AUFA (and AU, for that matter) to structure a final deal that is acceptable to both sides.

Given AU’s track record and its lawyer’s assertion that AU’s full proposal is so bad that AU expects AUFA to strike, AUFA’s bargaining team thinks it is advisable to see the entirety of AU’s opening proposal before agreeing on any changes.

Q: Why is AUFA focused on complaining about AU not providing a full offer instead of telling us about wins at the table?

A: AUFA’s bargaining team provides updates after each set of bargaining dates. There have been no wins at the table to report. This is, in part, because AU’s partial opening offer contains a large number of rollbacks for which there is no justification.

Further hampering bargaining is AU’s unwillingness to present a full opening offer (see question above). It is unfortunate that AUFA has to pressure AU into doing the bare legal minimum required to engage in good-faith bargaining. But that’s a function of how AU is approaching bargaining.

Bob Barnetson, Chair

AUFA Job Action Committee

Information Picket Held in Edmonton

AUFA Picketers outside of the Board of Governors Meeting

On March 28, Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) members picketed the Athabasca University Board of Governors Dinner in Edmonton to express their dismay with a lack of progress in negotiation for a new collective agreement. A second picket is scheduled for April 15 in the town of Athabasca.

AUFA is presently offering a four-year deal that includes:

• A two-year wage freeze,

• Language to prevent further abuse of precariously employed term staff, and

• Additional negotiations about cost of living increases in the final two years of the agreement.

This agreement broadly mirrors settlements across Alberta’s public sector as well as the settlement Athabasca University just ratified with its support staff. It also addresses the University’s long-term mistreatment of term employees(an arbitration settlement last fall has forced the University to offer permanent appointments or make monetary settlements to numerous term employees).

The University’s Board of Governors turned down AUFA’s proposed deal during a Labour-Board-supervised vote on March 21. The University and AUFA have met 18 times since bargaining began in May of 2018. One additional bargaining date is scheduled for April 15.

The University and AUFA will be before the Labour Board to continue sorting out an essential services agreement on April 8. An essential services agreement is a prerequisite to formal mediation and a strike vote.

If a new collective agreement in not reached, 40,000 students from across Canada could be affected by a work stoppage in the early autumn. Faculty have been without a contract since June 30, 2018.