One possible outcome of bargaining is reaching impasse (i.e., neither side is prepared to make further concessions in the hope of reaching a deal). If this happens, AUFA members may choose to go on strike to pressure AU to compromise. AU may also choose to lock AUFA members out to pressure us. (And both of these things can happen at once). This blog post is the first of several that will examine what a work stoppage would entail at AU and how AUFA members can prepare for it.
What are strikes and lockouts?
A strike is a cessation of work by employees in order to pressure the employer to agree to a set of proposals. Usually, this involves not attending the workplace but can also entail a formal work-to-rule campaign.
A lockout is when an employer denies its workers work (usually by restricting access to the workplace) and wages in order to pressure the workers to agree to a set of proposals.
In any dispute, workers may strike, their employer may lock them out, or sometimes both of these things can happen. Strikes and lockouts occur after collective bargaining has reached impasse. Strikes and lockouts end when the parties agree to a new collective agreement.
One of the nuances of labour relations is that, while workers must choose to go on strike (see below), an employer can often precipitate a strike by acting unreasonably at the bargaining table and leaving workers no other choice.
What is bargaining impasse?
Bargaining impasse occurs when one or both sides conclude that no further progress at the table is likely to be made. At this point, there are several ways to break the impasse:
Both parties can agree to enter voluntary mediation, where a mediator helps the parties to seek resolution.
Both parties can agree to send the dispute to arbitration to have it resolved by a neutral third party (see below). It is worth noting that AU has declined to do this in past negotiations with AUPE.
Either party can request that the Labour Board hold a proposal vote. If the employer sought a proposal vote, AUFA’s members would be polled by the Labour Board to determine whether they wish to accept AU’s current proposal.
Either party can commence a process that may lead to a work stoppage.
It is possible for more than one of these scenarios to happen, and the parties may cycle between them. For example, the employer may want to seek voluntary mediation. The union may initially participate but, seeing no progress, offer voluntary arbitration. The employer may decline this and seek a proposal vote by the Labour Board. If the union members turn down the employer’s offer, the union may look to hold a strike vote to improve its bargaining position and then return to voluntary mediation to see if the employer has changed its mind.
As the above example suggests, this process is messy and slow and frustrating. It is designed to be that way in order to give both sides every opportunity to consider the costs of a work stoppage and come to a deal. At any time, though, the union or the employer (or both) can decide to move toward a work stoppage. Similarly, they can also choose to stop moving towards a work stoppage and explore settlement.
What steps precede a work stoppage?
The parties must complete five steps before a work stoppage can commence:
Essential services agreement (ESA): The parties must come to an arrangement that ensures that services essential to ensuring the life, health and safety of others and public order continue to be provided during a work stoppage. AUFA filed for an exemption to the ESA requirement in mid-September.
Formal Mediation: Upon application of either party, the government appoints a mediator who works with the parties to try to fashion an agreeable settlement. If both sides accept the mediator’s recommendation, then it becomes the new collective agreement. Seeking formal mediation will be the next step towards a work stoppage if there is no meaningful progress in bargaining.
Cooling-Off Period: If no agreement is reached during mediation, there is a mandatory cooling-off period of at least 14 days. During this time, the parties can continue negotiations.
Strike Vote/Lockout Poll: After the cooling-off period, the union may apply to the Labour Board for a supervised vote to authorize strike action. Similarly, the employer may apply to the Labour Board for a supervised lockout poll to authorize lockout action. A strike may only commence if a majority of AUFA members who vote cast their ballot in favour of a strike. A strong strike mandate will often cause an employer to reconsider what is their true bottom line.
Notice of Strike or Lockout: Once one (or both) of the parties has secured authorization (i.e., a majority vote) to strike or lockout, it may serve 72 hours of notice on the other party that a work stoppage will commence.
At any time during this process, the parties can conclude a new collective agreement. The process is lengthy to allow time for the parties to explore all settlement options.
What will happen during a strike or lockout?
This depends for the most part on the employer, but you can likely expect to lose physical and digital access to the workplace for the duration of the work stoppage. A future blog post will discuss making practical preparations for a work stoppage.
You will also likely see a cessation of your wages and a suspension of pensionable service and contributions. A future blog post will discuss the arrangements AUFA has made to assist members to weather a wage cessation, as well as steps to take to prepare for this possibility.
How will AUFA continue operations during a work stoppage?
AUFA has collected non-AU phone numbers and email addresses for approximately 95% of its members. AUFA will use this information as well as its blog to maintain contact with members during a work stoppage. If you have not provided this information in the past and would like to do so, please email aufahq@aufa.ca .
What will AUFA expect of members during a work stoppage?
The withdrawal of labour is a key source of pressure on the employer during a work stoppage. The main purpose of withdrawing labour is to disrupt AU’s operations. AUFA’s executive will determine how a labour withdrawal will work. This might include a full walk out, a partial walk out, or rotating walk outs. AUFA members will be expected to comply with directions from the AUFA executive to not report for or otherwise perform AU-related work during a work stoppage.
Picketing is a common tactic during work stoppages and will form one aspect of AUFA’s strike strategy. Picketing is intended to discourage “customers” from patronizing the employer (i.e., interrupt AU’s revenue streams) and also to embarrass the employer (i.e., cause reputational harm) in an effort to get AU to make AUFA members a reasonable collective agreement offer. AUFA’s work stoppage planning committee is currently discussing various other strike activities that are appropriate given our dispersed workforce.
What happens if I choose to continue working during a work stoppage?
Under AUFA’s constitution, AUFA’s membership can vote to suspend members. Practically speaking, the consequences for crossing the picket line (which is often referred to as “scabbing”) are more informal and involve social exclusion of free-riders by their peers once the work stoppage is over. The emotional pressure caused by social exclusion is often so acute that it causes scabs to seek work elsewhere.
Are there circumstances that might warrant working during a stoppage?
The Job Action Committee has identified members on Research and Study Leave (RSL) or sick leave, and members with special research circumstances (e.g., grant reporting deadlines, data collection, or experiments ongoing on the date of the stoppage) as warranting special consideration.
What are the chances of a work stoppage occurring?
On average, only 1% of negotiations in Alberta ends in a work stoppage each year. The Board’s recent aggressiveness, the government’s rollback mandate, and the opportunity that single-table bargaining presents for them to force major changes in collective agreement language suggests the risk of a work stoppage is higher than average at AU.
How long will a work stoppage last?
The long-term data on work stoppages in Canadian post-secondary education (n=50) suggests the mean duration of work stoppage is 22.5 days and 90% of strikes last less than 6 weeks.
How long a work stoppage lasts at AU will be determined by (1) the issues over which there remains a dispute and (2) the effectiveness of the pressure brought by each side on the other during a work stoppage.
A third factor affecting duration is whether and when the government intervenes to bring an end to the dispute. The recent Ontario college strike (12,000 workers, hundreds of thousands of students) lasted over five weeks before the workers were ordered back to work.
How would a work stoppage affect my pension?
UAPP has identified two implications of a work stoppage for pensions. Both impacts are expected to be slight, based upon the historically short nature of PSE work stoppage.
First, the period of the work stoppage would not be considered pensionable service, since AUFA members would not be receiving pay and neither the member nor the employer would be making pensionable contributions. The effect of this would be to slightly delay the point at which a member received the 80 points (age plus years of service) necessary to qualify for a full pension. This would only affect members intending to retire as soon as they have their “pension numbers.”
Second, for members within five years of retirement, the loss of income may affect their pensionable income. Your pension income is based upon your best five consecutive years of earnings. This effect is expected to be slight and would vary based upon the duration of the work stoppage and a member’s employment history.
UAPP suggests that the period of a work stoppage could be treated as pensionable if that were negotiated as part of the settlement of the work stoppage.
Can the parties go to arbitration instead of having a work stoppage?
If both AUFA and AU agree, items in dispute can be remitted to an arbitrator. At arbitration, a neutral third party decides the content of a collective agreement after hearing presentations by both sides.
Why is AUFA preparing for a work stoppage instead of arbitration?
There are several reasons for this. Over the past 10 years, the Athabasca University’s Board has become increasingly aggressive during collective bargaining. This raises the possibility of the employer using a lockout to force rollbacks in our collective agreement. When there is a strike or lockout, the existing collective agreement is terminated. Employers will sometimes have a short lock out to do this and then invite workers back to work under the employer’s last offer. Unless workers are prepared to strike, they are stuck de facto accepting the employer’s last offer.
For this reason, AUFA needs to be ready to respond to a lockout while continuing to seek a fair and negotiated agreement at the bargaining table. If the employer offered to resolve matters at arbitration, the AUFA executive would consider such an offer. One of the risks that the AUFA executive would consider is that an arbitrator may split the difference between the parties’ respective positions. Depending on how far apart the parties are, AUFA may be able to get a better deal through a work stoppage than arbitration.
Finally, a seeming paradox: a credible strike plan reduces the chance of a work stoppage because it tells the employer that a lockout would be a hard road for the employer. This makes a negotiated settlement more attractive to the employer.
Who can I contact about a work stoppage?
Bob Barnetson (barnetso@athabascau.ca) is the chair of the Job Action Committee.
In the next few weeks, you can expect additional strike prep blog posts that will address making financial and professional preparations for a work stoppage.
Bob Barnetson, Chair
AUFA Job Action Committee