A year later, AUFA is winning the designation battle
One year ago, AU proposed carving two-thirds of AUFA members out of the union. Fighting this union-busting to an apparent stand-still has consumed an enormous amount of AUFA members’ time and emotional energy. Although a dangerous policy remains on the books, AU have communicated no plans to remove some members previously at issue in designation, and Neil Fassina is leaving. Before everyone departs for the winter break, I thought reflecting on how we’ve (so far) won this fight might be appropriate.
AU’s efforts to de-designate two-third of AUFA members came on the heels of a very contentious round of collective bargaining. AUFA members thwarted efforts to roll back wages, impose company doctors, and grind our working conditions.
This was our first round of bargaining under strike-lockout and, from the inside, I would say we came pretty close to a work stoppage. In that context (and absent any believable explanation from AU), the likely purpose of the new designation policy was to degrade AUFA’s strike threat going into bargaining in July of 2020.
AU’s designation game plan appeared to be two-fold: (1) conduct hollow consultations, and (2) then implement the policy. This proposal would have immediately carved out deans, associate deans, managers and many IT staff. Subsequently, AU could then carve out other professionals and academic coordinators at its leisure or, possibly, trade a stay on de-designation for concessions at the table.
Fortunately, AUFA’s members saw through this strategy and began to resist. Some highlights include:
Well subscribed button, sign, profile picture, and email campaigns.
Four raucous “Conversation with the President” sessions where members took President Fassina to task for six hours. This was so effective that Fassina discontinued two-way staff meetings.
Group letters, petitions, testimonials, picketing, and a march on the boss.
A campaign of public embarrassment by making visible AU’s terrible behaviour.
Developing a visiting student boycott threat with significant financial consequences should AU de-designate employees.
AUFA’s November survey showed trust in Fassina at an all-time low and approval of AUFA as extremely high. Members also supported continued resistance, including publicly embarrassing AU and taking direct job action. This support has been incredibly heartening.
For its part, AU’s Board has passed a watered down version of its original policy (with no automatic de-designations). Since then, AU has shown no signs of taking action to de-designate any staff. Subsequently, Fassina was reduced to claiming there was no “master plan” to de-designate (when clearly there was) and pretending to not understand why AUFA would be threatening a boycott (when it was previously explained at length to him). Fassina has also (unexpectedly) announced his departure. In a recent meeting with AUFA, Human Resources clearly stated that there are no plans to change the designation status of any IT staff. These are all signs that AU is losing this fight.
There are a number of lessons to be found in the events of the last year:
Wins are often incremental, partial, and hard to see. We got AU to remove automatic de-designation from the policy. And AU seems to have pressed paused on dedesignation (at least for the moment). It can be hard to get excited about these sorts of nebulous victories. But the employer quietly giving up on a course of action is an important (and the most common kind of) victory that unions win.
Power, not good arguments, matters when dealing with the employer. AUFA made many good arguments to AU during consultations. AU heeded none of them. What caused AU to change its behaviour was AUFA attaching costs (e.g., social pressure, reputational and financial harm) to AU’s behaviour. Attaching costs is an exercise of power and the employer responded to it.
Worker power comes from solidarity. AUFA’s ability to attach costs comes mainly from its members. Members ask hard questions, write letters, and picket. Members sanction and carry out boycotts and job actions. These exercises in power require members to recognize that they have a shared interest and that interest is separate from the employer’s interest.
Power persists. While everyone hopes that AU quietly drops its plans to de-designate, the power that we have built resisting this attack will serve us well as collective bargaining begins in earnest next year. The government is signalling it wants wage rollbacks and then wage freezes. AUFA members are signalling they want wage increases to account for years of foregone cost-of-living adjustments. Making gains in this climate will require that we act together such that giving us a raise is the best option available to AU’s Board.
Our success in staving off AU’s union busting is the result of the hard work of many people. Most importantly, we need to thank each other. AUFA members—many with no prior union involvement—stepped way out of their comfort zone to push back against this attack on their colleagues’ rights to be in a union of their choosing. We also owe our thanks to AUFA members who volunteered their time with AUFA to call members, solicit signatures, and organize events and campaigns.
We need to thank our union allies. CUPE Local 3911 and AUPE Local 69 were steadfast in their support of AUFA who we now meet with regularly to continue to build solidarity across AU labour unions. This denied AU the opportunity to play workers off against other workers and in fact strengthened our ties. We need to remember the support AUPE and CUPE gave us when AU decides to go after them. Other faculty associations from across Alberta and the country have also stepped up to join our visiting student boycott. Without their help, we would not be in the position we’re presently in.
As we get ready for a well-earned winter break, please accept my personal thanks for your hard work this year. The irony that AU’s union-busting created a much stronger union should not be lost on anyone, and especially AU’s Board.
Dave Powell, President