AU's non-monetary proposal is largely leftovers

AUFA and AU have yet to continue bargaining due to AU’s refusal to table a full monetary offer. AUFA members have strongly instructed the bargaining team to hold the line and not accept AU’s bad faith bargaining. AUFA’s proposals has been developed through extensive discussion with AUFA members and will be explored in detail in future blog posts.  

AU’s proposal only includes non-monetary language and thus many articles are not discussed whatsoever. However, their proposal is remarkably thin. It appears that AU have crossed out half of their 2020 proposal and resubmitted the rest with minimal to no changes. This is despite extensive attempts from AU’s executive to distance themselves from their predecessors. AUFA identified 27 proposals from AU and of them, 22 were proposed in 2020. Click below to read AU’s non-monetary proposal.

From the 27 non-monetary proposals that AU has tabled, four amendments are particularly problematic, as they seek to implement rollbacks to protections AUFA members have under the current collective agreement. They are as follows:

  • Grievances (Article 8): Amendments proposed to Article 8 would require that different steps during the grievance process are run through managers instead of HR. These changes would also require that AUFA files grievances within 30 days of becoming aware of problems, forcing AUFA to escalate issues that could be informally resolved. This amendment was proposed and rejected in the last round of bargaining.

  • Discipline (Article 7): This was proposed and rejected last round of bargaining. All discipline would take effect immediately, with no option for an appeal. A full analysis of this language was posted in 2021. 98% of AUFA members rejected this language.

  • Academic Freedom (Article 11.2): AU’s proposed reworking of academic freedom is concerning. It seeks to re-define the concept of academic freedom in its content and scopes within employer mandates, and bars institutional criticism. This article appears to be the only original language from AU in this round of bargaining. A future blog post will explore this language in more detail.

  • Casual Appointments (Article 27): AU wishes to remove this language entirely, allowing them to hire casual staff without union protections. This has also been proposed previously.

Remaining proposals

The rest of AU’s proposals are language changes such as reducing how frequently AU tells AUFA who its members are, removing the now-excluded Deans from the collective agreement, or requiring longer notice from members when they resign. Most of these minor items were proposed in the last round of bargaining. Future blog posts will explore the proposals from both sides in detail to provide analysis and seek AUFA member opinion.

AU needs to provide its monetary proposal

92% of AUFA members have informed AUFA to only return to the bargaining table when AU has tabled its full proposal. Last round, AU’s monetary contained multiple additional proposals, including the removal of Research and Study Leave for professionals. Important language changes cannot be withheld in such a manner out of some vague appeal to tradition. Good faith negotiations require both sides to act in full transparency and honesty.  We agree with AUFA members that by not disclosing the full package, AU is acting in bad faith. AUFA bargaining committee will continue demanding AU to disclose the full monetary proposal and get back to the table to engage in real interest-based negotiations.

Volunteer for AUFA!

AUFA is seeking new members of its many committees. If you are interested in participating in the Association and supporting your co-workers, please review our executive page to see where AUFA is seeking volunteers. Contact aufahq@aufa.ca to volunteer!

BlogDavid Powellbargaining, non-monetary, proposal