Bargaining Update: AU refuses to present monetary offer because it fears an immediate strike

AUFA and AU met on September 14 and 15 to resume negotiations. AU continued to refuse to provide its full proposal or its monetary position or provide a timeline for when it will table them. AUFA once again articulated that AU’s refusal to provide a full package is undermining trust and impeding progress at the table.  

One of the reasons AU gave for not presenting their monetary proposal was that they believe that, when they do, it will lead AUFA to want to strike immediately. “As soon as we table it, you will immediately declare impasse and strike”, said Chantel Kassongo, AU’s external lawyer contracted to lead negotiations.  

It is useful to know that AU has an opening proposal ready. It is not surprising that AU is likely going to seek wage rollbacks. That AU expects its opening proposal to trigger a strike does not absolve AU of its obligation to provide a full proposal as part of its duty to bargain in good faith. 

During the exchange, Kassongo expressed displeasure with how AUFA is communicating with its members. AUFA’s bargaining team responded by saying AUFA’s communications with its members are no concern of AU’s. In response, Kassongo said “It is our concern. They are our employees before they are your members. If they don’t have a job, they aren’t members”. It is hard to know what to make of that statement. An employer interfering in a union’s communication with union members would be committing an unfair labour practice.  

As for substantive matters, AU presented a revised proposal regarding academic freedom. They abandoned their original proposal of entirely new language and instead presented amendments to existing language. The new proposal addresses some of AUFA’s concerns but other concerns remain, including removal of “freedom from institutional censorship” and inclusion of a statement placing academic freedom in the context of the university’s responsibility to its academic mission. The biggest concern is AU’s continued insistence on removing professional freedom from the agreement entirely.  

AU also proposed changes to the equity provisions. AU’s proposal eliminates the Employment Equity Committee entirely and includes a letter of understanding (commitments that do not make up a part of the permanent agreement) promising to deliver an “institutional equity, diversity, and inclusion framework and action plan” by April 1, 2023. AU’s proposal does not indicate what process will be used to develop this framework or if AUFA members will be included in the process. In the AUFA bargaining team’s evaluation, the proposal amounts to removing the one formal, albeit flawed, process we have for improving equity at AU and replacing it with a “trust us” approach to developing a plan. 

AUFA was able to present in detail our proposal around occupational health and safety (OHS), which aims to codify in the agreement workers’ safety rights and an effective joint health and safety committee. This conversation was productive. 

The parties also continued discussion on the grievance procedure, to which AU proposes significant changes. The parties have a better understanding of each other’s position on this issue. 

We have two more days of bargaining scheduled on October 25 and 29. AUFA’s bargaining team is not hopeful AU will present the remainder of their opening proposal or their monetary position on those days.  

Overall, the AUFA bargaining team is growing increasingly frustrated with AU’s unwillingness to present some of the most important parts of their offer after nearly six months of bargaining. AU’s unwillingness to present an opening offer is, frankly, bizarre and I’ve seen nothing like this behaviour in 25 years in the labour movement. 

The bargaining team invites AUFA members to express any concerns they have about AU’s behaviour at the bargaining table directly to the three members of AU’s bargaining team who are AU employees. 

Alain May, alainm@athabascau.ca 

Margaret Kierylo, mkierylo@athabascau.ca 

Jessica Butts Scott, jscott@athabascau.ca 

Perhaps hearing directly from AUFA members will change AU’s behaviour to the bargaining table. Please copy AUFA (aufahq@aufa.ca) on your correspondence. 

Jason Foster, Chair 

AUFA Bargaining Team