The 2016 Terms and Conditions negotiations are now complete, and a Memorandum of Agreement will be prepared shortly and presented at a special meeting for the membership. The changes made are smaller ones as the AUFA team was unwilling to give concessions, and the Board team was unable to make any language changes that had even potential financial impact.
The teams met twice, on December 12th and January 24th for half-day sessions. The Board team's behaviour was a complete change from the past several years as they were professional, bargained in good faith, and came ready to negotiate. Although bargaining is an adversarial process, it can be done professionally and should always be done with the intention of reaching a deal. This is a major change from past practice, and was conducive to fair and open negotiations.
The following language was agreed to:
- Additional data in AUFA office reports from HR
- Informal grievances must specify the article violated
- Various language changes (ministry name, define calendar year as payroll year)
- Term sick leaves are now prorated rather than calculated from a formula - total sick days remain unchanged
- Creation of a resume-upload portal on the new HR site sorted by location - this language is pending final sign off and will not be in the collective agreement
The AUFA team was David Powell (chair), Nick Driedger (executive director), Rachel Conroy, Pamela Holway, Rhiannon Bury, and Eric Strikwerda. The Board team was Glen Doyle (chair), Kayleigh Dixon, Donna Romyn, and Paulette Patry.
The AUFA team would like to thank the AUFA membership and its executive for their support.