AU continues union busting, forcing AUFA to escalate tactics

IMG_0667.jpg

Over the past two years, AU has been engaging in a pattern of behaviours aimed to undermine the strength of AUFA. These union-busting behaviours include:

  • Forcing AUFA to move its office off of the main campus, thereby impeding access to members.

  • Refusing to meet timelines and reporting requirements and repeatedly violating the agreement, thereby making the union look ineffective to members.

  • Making unreasonable demands during bargaining to push the union towards a strike and test AUFA’s solidarity.

  • Seeking to carve 67% of AUFA members out of the bargaining unit, undercutting the union’s power and working great harm on the members who will be carved out and those who will be left.

Over the summer, AU has launched two more attacks AUFA:

  • AU has refused to allow AUFA to buyout additional time for the union president. This buyout has been approved for every previous president. This denial undermines AUFA’s executive’s ability to function. This denial is now the subject of a grievance that is headed to arbitration.

  • AU has told AUFA its staff members will no longer be eligible to participate in AU’s benefits plan (at AUFA’s expense) and will no longer be paid through AU’s payroll systems. For years, AUFA staff have participated in AU’s benefit plan (at AUFA’s expense) and their pay has gone through AU’s payroll system at no real extra cost to the employer. The stated rationale for the benefits removal is AU is unwilling to apply for a Blue Cross exception to have AUFA employees on their plan, which other institutions have no problem getting. AU’s refusal to continue this past practice will increase AUFA’s costs and leave AUFA with fewer resources with which to represent its members.

AUFA’s tactics aimed at changing President Fassina’s draft de-designation policy have included:

  • Participating eight months of consultations, where AU has refused to meaningfully discuss the policy implications.

  • Having hundreds of members signing petitions opposing the draft policy.

  • Having dozens of members email and phone the VP Planning and Policy with their concerns.

  • Having member march on the boss during consultation meetings to express their opposition.

To date, these tactics have generated modest changes in the policy. But they have not resulted in the substantive changes necessary to make this policy acceptable to AUFA members. Consequently, AUFA’s executive has authorized an escalation of tactics to increase the cost to AU of de-designating AUFA members. This decision reflects that (1) AUFA cannot force AU to act reasonably but (2) AUFA can increase the costs to AU of acting unreasonably and, (3) if the cost gets high enough, AU will change its behaviour.

With that in mind, last week AUFA began soliciting pledges from other faculty associations that, if AU de-designates AUFA members, the other faculty associations will direct their members not to send visiting students to AU. Should AU force these faculty associations to follow through with their threat:

  • this action will negatively affect AU’s tuition revenue, and

  • this action will almost certainly make the news and damage AU’s reputation.

A letter from the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) is an example of the correspondence the Board chair will be receiving from other FAs as the first step in this escalation. The UWOFA has gone beyond AUFA’s ask and also indicated that it will be direct its members to decline transfer credits from AU if AUFA members are de-designated.

The assistance of allies is much appreciated and demonstrates that we’re not alone. Faculty across the country think AU’s union busting is unacceptable and President Fassina’s union-busting agenda will have institutional consequences.

This fight to let AUFA members—not the employer—decide which union (if any) will represent them will, however, ultimately be won by AUFA members applying pressure to AU’s Board of Governors. Additional escalation will likely be necessary to convince the Board that Fassina’s union busting needs to be reined in.

To that end, we encourage you to book time to attend the online BoG meeting on September 11. At this meeting, the BoG will consider AU’s proposed de-designation policy. BoG meetings are open to the public and we will pass along login information when it becomes available.

Bob Barnetson, Member

Membership Engagement Committee

Michael Voaklanderdesignation, union busting, solidarity