As AUFA readies itself for a possible work stoppage, the Job Action Committee (JAC) has begun detailed planning. An important set of foundational decisions AUFA must make are:
Who will be required to actively participate in a strike?
What labour will be withdrawn and what labour will be permitted to continue?
How will AUFA allocate strike pay?
How will we resolve disputes about these issues during a work stoppage?
In November, JAC made a series of recommendations to the Executive, including consulting members on these questions and ensuring any final decisions are ratified by the membership.
This blog post provides some recommended answers to these questions and seeks feedback from the membership by December 15. AUFA’s Executive will provide a revised set of recommendations (based on the feedback) to the membership in January in advance of a townhall and membership vote.
Background and Recommendations
To: AUFA Executive
From: Job Action Committee
Re: AUFA Strike and Picketing Framework
Overview
As we move closer to a possible work stoppage, AUFA needs to make some decisions about who will strike, what labour will be withdrawn, and how we will allocate strike pay.
The Job Action Committee (JAC) recommends AUFA’s Executive present the following recommendations to the membership for feedback, voting, and eventual ratification:
All members be asked to withdraw their labour (i.e., strike) excepting those on parental leave, long-term disability, and those who receive an exemption (see Recommendation 5 below).
During a strike, academic members be directed to stop teaching, coordinating their courses, and performing university service work.
During a strike, professional members be directed to not engage in their professional duties and to stop their university service work.
Strike pay be issued to members complying with (1), (2) and (3) above as well as performing strike duties as requested. The strike duty requirement will be waived for members on short-term sick leave or members whose RSL precludes participation, and those who receive an exemption (see Recommendation 5 below).
AUFA set up a committee to adjudicate disputes and requests for exemptions balancing the need for solidarity with equity-based needs.
Background
A work stoppage can entail a strike, a lockout, or both simultaneously. During a lockout or a strike-lockout, the employer will prevent all AUFA members from performing work and receiving pay. Members on long-term disability will continue to be paid by the insurer and members on parental leave will continue to receive EI benefits.
During a strike (without an accompanying lockout), it will be up to AUFA’s Executive to decide:
which members will withdraw their labour (thus foregoing their paycheque) in order to apply operational pressure to AU to settle, and
what labour is to be withdrawn.
During any work stoppage (i.e., strike and/or lockout), it will also be up to AUFA’s Executive to decide what member strike duties (e.g., picketing, digital picketing, letter writing, AUFA service work) will occur to apply pressure to AU to settle. At this point, JAC expects strike duties to amount to about 2 hours of work per day per member, but that must remain as yet undetermined and may vary depending on the circumstances.
Who Should Strike?
The most effective strike is one where all AUFA members withdraw their labour. This maximizes the operational disruption and pressure on the employer to settle. It also prevents free riding (i.e., receiving the benefits won by a strike without participating in the strike), which can be corrosive to member solidarity.
JAC’s recommendation is that all AUFA members be directed to strike (i.e., withdraw their labour) except members on:
Long-term disability: Long-term disability benefits will continue during the strike. Members on long-term disability should be excused from withdrawing their labour (they are already off work) and from strike duties for as long as they remain on long-term disability. Members off on workers’ compensation would be treated similarly.
Parental Leave: Employment Insurance benefits will continue during the strike. Members on parental leave should be excused from withdrawing their labour (they are already off work) for as long as they remain on parental leave.
JAC recommends the Executive strike a committee (see below) to make decisions about any other exceptions that may emerge.
Members who are not required to strike would continue to receive pay via LTD or EI and would not be required to participate in strike activities.
What Labour to Withdraw?
Not all work is equally important to frustrating AU’s operations. AUFA members may also be reluctant to stop performing certain kinds of work. The work that is most important to the employer’s operations appears to be:
Academics: teaching, course coordination, and university service work.
Professionals: professional job duties and university service work.
The employer would be largely unaffected by the withdrawal of research, external service activities, and professional development work. Consequently, JAC recommends during any strike:
Academic members be directed to stop teaching, course coordination, and university service work.
Professional members be directed to stop their professional duties and university service work.
Members who wish to continue with external service, research, or professional development during a strike may do so at their discretion and without pay.
Strike Pay Eligibility
Strike pay amounts to $88 per calendar day (with no deductions) starting on the fourth day of the work stoppage. It is up to AUFA to set the criteria for members to qualify for strike pay. JAC recommends three criteria for eligibility:
Direct deposit and contact information: The most sensible way to distribute strike pay is through direct deposit. In order to assign strike duties, AUFA will need a way to contact members. Consequently, to be eligible for strike pay, members will need to provide direct deposit and non-AU contact information to AUFA.
Withdrawing labour: To be eligible for strike pay, members need to withdraw their labour consistent with the recommendation above.
Performing strike duties: In addition to withdrawing their labour, members will need to be available to perform strike duties. JAC is cognizant of the need to recognize the complex and distributed nature of the AUFA membership when organizing strike duties.
What strike duties will members be expected to perform?
Members who are on strike will be expected to perform approximately 2 hours of strike duties per day in order to qualify for strike pay. The expectation of performing strike duties would be waived for members on:
Short-term illness: Members on short-term illness leave when a strike commences should be expected to withdraw their labour (in solidarity with their colleagues) but would not be required to perform strike duties if and as their illness requires it. Members who become ill during a strike should be excused from strike duties if and as their illness requires.
Research and Study Leave: Members on RSL (i.e., sabbatical) when a strike commences should be expected to withdraw their labour (in solidarity with their colleagues). If a member’s RSL activities make performing strike duties impractical (e.g., are attending a full-time graduate program, are out of the country), the requirement to perform strike duties to receive strike pay will be waived.
There will inevitably be questions about the application of these rules as well as unforeseen issues (e.g., family illness, childcare) that will arise. JAC recommends the Executive strike a committee (see below) to make decisions about any exemptions that emerge.
The following table outlines some of the strike duties available to AUFA members. JAC will present a more detailed strike plan to the AUFA Executive in the new year. These duties account for the complexity and geographical dispersal of AUFA’s membership.
|
Daily |
|
|
Picketing |
AUFA will host four physical pickets per week, rotating between Athabasca, Edmonton (x2), and Calgary. Picketing might include picketing, door knocking, and leafleting. |
|
Digital Picketing |
AUFA will produce daily shareables (e.g., graphics, testimonials with an action ask) that members can push out on social media as well as reshare others. Members can also comment on media reports. |
|
Outreach |
AUFA will produce talking points members can use to phone or email selected targets (e.g., AU’s president, Board members, MLAs and others). |
|
Committee Duties |
Some AUFA members will have daily or periodic committee duties. These include a large group of callers who will maintain weekly telephone contact with every AUFA member. |
|
Attend Meetings |
AUFA will need to periodically meet with its members to inform them of progress, seek feedback, maintain morale, and educate them on specific topics. Attendance at meetings will constitute strike activity. |
|
Periodic |
|
|
Education |
Some AUFA members have expressed an interest in developing short online education sessions targeting the public (specifically students). |
|
Creative |
Some AUFA members have expressed interest in creative activity (e.g., strike-related artwork, poetry, and songs). |
Tentatively, JAC is considering having members self-report their strike activity to drive strike pay eligibility. Members would be expected to produce records of their activity upon request.
Strike Pay Eligibility Committee
To address questions about strike-pay eligibility and strike duty questions, JAC recommends the Executive form a Strike Pay Eligibility Committee. This committee would be:
formed when AUFA enters formal mediation with the employer and would operate until the end of any work stoppage,
organized and chaired by the Vice-President and comprise six additional AUFA members selected by the Executive,
empowered to hear applications for exemptions from the general rules, set governing strike pay, participation, and strike duties, make binding decisions about such applications, and any other matters delegated to them by the Executive, and
guided by the principles of solidarity and equity, wherein all members should bear as equal a share of the cost of a work stoppage as is reasonably practicable for them to bear.
Member Feedback and Ratification
AUFA’s bylaws empower the Executive to make decisions required to operate the association in between member meetings. This gives the Executive the power to make decisions based on the recommendations above.
Consistent with our efforts to be transparent with and driven by the membership, JAC recommends the Executive:
Provide this memo to AUFA members in December for feedback.
Host a townhall in January to address questions and explain any updates (based on the feedback).
Hold an online ratification vote of the final recommendations.
Your Turn
The Executive and JAC would like to hear member views on the recommendations set out above by December 15. AUFA will use this feedback to amend the recommendations before presenting them to the membership for a ratification vote in January.
In solidarity,
Dave Powell, President
Bob Barnetson, Chair
Job Action Committee