AUFA has emerged victorious from Salaries & Benefits arbitration. The most recent round of S&B bargaining ended an impasse. Under the PSLA (Post-secondary Learning Act), such impasses had to be resolved via arbitration, in a process known as final-offer selection. In final-offer selection, each party in the negotiations presents its best final offer to an arbitrator, who chooses between them. AUFA’s offer was a two-year deal, with a 2% cost-of-living increase for each of 2016–17 and 2017–18. The employer presented a three-year deal that included a freeze on annual merit increments in 2017–18 and 2018–19 and decreases to professional development allowances. Ultimately, Arbitrator Jones found the employer’s final offer to be unreasonable in comparison to settlements at other universities and colleges in Alberta and thus selected AUFA’s final offer.
AUFA President Lawton Shaw praised the AUFA Salaries & Benefits bargaining team, consisting of Geoff Loken (chair), Rachel Conroy, Nick Driedger, Jason Foster, and Terra Murray. “Our bargaining team was well prepared for bargaining, put together a compelling case for AUFA’s final offer, and won the day. AUFA members are deeply appreciative of their work.
The arbitration decision can be found here...
Lawton Shaw, PhD
President, Athabasca University Faculty Association
Associate Professor (Chemistry)
Phone: 1-866-403-7429