"Just not interested" - Bargaining Update for October 8th, 2025

The University and AUFA met again on October 8th to continue negotiations. To date, we have signed off on many language changes and smaller agreements and the atmosphere at the bargaining table has been largely collegial with both parties agreeing to multiple changes to the collective agreement. As bargaining shifts into a final state, we are going to review what has been accomplished to date, and then summarize the results of October 8th.

Summary of agreed changes to date

Language	Result	Notes
LoU - Market Supplements	Members receive six months notice when market supplements are discontinued. If the notice is late, the member will continue to receive the market supplement for minimum six months.	AUFA originally proposed an increase to market supplements and automatic renewal process. Compromise deal was fair notice for termination, with bargaining team prioritizing any new monies to salaries and benefits.
Article 3: Academic Tenure and Promotion	Both parties agreed to strike a subcommittee with representation from all faculties to negotiate new rules for academic tenure and promotion.	AU strongly wants to review tenure and promotion processes with a mind to setting standards and centralized rules. AUFA members have acknowledge concerns with the process and so the committee will work to find a mutual solution.
LoU - Support Persons	AUFA members may now request a support person during meetings and hearings (grievance, discipline, appeal) in addition to their AUFA representative.	Successfully secured language, after negotiating terms and restrictions with the employer.
Removal of Deans	All language in the collective agreement referencing Deans has been removed.	Deans were removed from the faculty association as a result of a labour relations board settlement.
Article 5 Term Appointments	Term hires tied to new programs can now remain term for up to five years, previously three.	AU was not hiring new positions under this language and AUFA agreed to this change to help incentivize more term hires.
LoU – Accommodations of Staff with Disabilities	Removed language referring to a committee that had not met since 2007.	This letter contains useful principles relating to accommodation. AU wanted to remove it, AUFA instead negotiated to retain the letter’s principles but remove committee reference.
LoU - Transition of Research and Study Leave for Professional Staff Members	Letter was cleaned up to remove dated information from last round of bargaining.	Professional RSL was changed into an extended PD system last round of bargaining. AUFA requested an option for professionals who wanted to opt-in to the new system to do so, which AU rejected. Agreed to simply clean up the letter.
Article 17 – Union Time Off	Committee work in AUFA is now considered time off for union business.	Previous language only permitted AUFA members to take time off as executive members or to attend major AUFA meeting, this resulted in some AUFA members being denied time to work on committees.

Tone Shifts at Bargaining 

Although there are still items open on the table with fair opportunity for compromise, it is clear that the most difficult issues remain. Significant concerns identified by AUFA members include lowering benefit premiums for members, increasing members’ Cost-of-Living-Adjustment (COLA), and bolstering our meagre professional development (PD) and discretionary benefit funds (DBF).  

While AU continues to express desire to obtain a deal and often talk about the compromising necessary to do so, they have shown reluctance to do any compromising of their own when it comes to AUFA’s major concerns. While AUFA continues to work with the employer to sign off on agreements, AU continues to assert that they “not interested” in even discussing the matters that matter to most to AUFA members.  

AU’s monetary counteroffer 

In response to AUFA’s monetary counter, the university put forward a disappointing 10% COLA over four years, offering 3% retroactive to July 1, 2024; 3% retroactive to July 1, 2025; 2% July 1, 2026; and 2% July 1, 2027. Their offer continues to fall below provincial benchmarks and completely ignores the skyrocketing cost of living members are facing today.   

AUFA was firm when addressing this weak counteroffer, stating that we expect the university to come back to the bargaining table on Oct 20th with their “real number” as opposed to slowly walking towards the anticipated provincial mandate (i.e. 12% over four years). Once AU has presented its full offer, AUFA will then know what we have to work with. Members deserve fair compensation, not crumbs. The AUFA bargaining team is preparing a counteroffer for the upcoming meeting informed by the recent AUFA membership survey.  

AU not interested in negotiating an Essential Services Agreement 

An Essential Services Agreement (ESA) is a required agreement in Alberta that specifies which staff at a workplace may not be subject to strike/lockout. This is due to a risk of damage to persons or property if they do not do their jobs. For context, a nurses strike would leave some minimum number of nurses still completing absolutely essential tasks. AUFA has maintained that members do not perform essential work.

Most concerning about the employer's current proposal is it would allow AU to unilaterally identify emergencies, allowing it to force AUFA members back to work at the employer's sole discretion. This offer places unprecedented power in the hands of the employer to control how a work stoppage operates.

The proposed ESA also identifies one AUFA member as essential; AU's bargaining team has indicated AU will not successfully operate if this single person is unavailable. This is, on the face of it, false. AUFA has identified that AU can easily hire contractors to cover this work, as that staff member is currently on leave and AU is still operating. Yet the proposed ESA would require this staff member to work part-time (5 hours per day) during the work stoppage, and remain on call 24/7. This is difficult to understand as this staff member has been absent on leaves before without any calamity befalling the university.

If bargaining was to go to impasse, an ESA is required to proceed to a strike vote and formal mediation. AUFA believes this is a delay tactic and has committed to negotiating an ESA as quickly as possible. 

AU not interested in AUFA’s proposed relocation protection language 

In our original proposal, AUFA proposed a series of changes to the collective agreement which would enshrine members’ rights not to be forcibly uprooted from their homes and relocated. AU responded to these proposals with a speech about the difficulties in recruiting to the Athabasca area, and implied heavily that they wanted to retain the right to involuntarily relocate AUFA members. This is regardless of the negative effect this potential threat has on members’ mental health and wellbeing.  

AU not interested in language changes to protect against de-designation 

Designation is an ongoing crisis in AUFA, as discussed in a recent blog post. To date, over 40 staff members at AU are denied union rights, when they would have historically been AUFA members. To resolve this issue, AUFA has proposed language which would place all professionals, academic coordinators, and academics into AUFA by default. The university said they are “not interested” in language which would provide members protections against de-designation.  

It is clear Athabasca University is union busting. New professional positions are routinely posted as excluded, particularly management positions or new position types. AU has made it clear they intend to continue with this pattern, which will slowly erode AUFA and place all members at risk. This is a direct attack on union strength, member security, and the charter rights of Canadians to belong to trade unions. Although AUFA is legally proceeding to correct designation, the best, and cleanest way to resolve this issue is through bargaining.  

AU not interested in equity 

AUFA proposed a new preamble to the collective agreement, focused on enshrining equity as a principle in the contract. AU rejected this language as unnecessary. AUFA has since pivoted to identify a gap in Article 26, Equity. The language as stands has both parties agree to remove barriers towards the recruitment, selection, hiring, retention, and promotion of various under-represented groups. This list does not specify sexuality or gender identity, which is a gap. AUFA has proposed their inclusion in this article, which AU has rejected. This is in keeping with a pattern across AU bargaining of rejecting any language related to social justice, which includes a refusal to enshrine National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in the collective agreements of CUPE and AUPE.  

Dangerous changes proposed to Article 12 (position reduction)  

Finally, the university has proposed changes to language in Article 12 (Position Reduction), with concerning changes proposed to article 12.2.2. Previously, the article stated that Academic Council — AU’s predecessor to General Faculties Council (GFC) and former academic governing body — recommends to the Board when a course, program, or discipline should be discontinued. However, in their proposal, AU removes the academic governing body doing this work (determining closure of courses, disciplines, or programs) and instead places that power solely with the Board, which contravenes the Post-Secondary Learning Act (PSLA, section 26). When pressed for an explanation for this change, we were assured that the university will still follow its existing governance structures and procedures, but AU’s proposed language signals that the university could be attempting to shift the management of academic affairs from collegial governance to a more corporate, top-down management style. AUFA believes strongly we should follow the PSLA and that academic affairs must remain a function of our academic governing body (currently GFC).  

Our next bargaining dates are October 20 and 23rd.

Throughout the bargaining process, AUFA has remained flexible and agreed to many changes and language updates to various agreements. However, now that we are getting to the things that really matter (e.g., benefit premium reductions, protections against de-designation, appropriate COLA increases), we are getting the response of “no, not interested”. It appears for the bigger issues that really matter to members and impact their lives AU is pushing for control, not collaboration. Their unwillingness to move on key proposals threaten job security and the foundational principles of shared governance.  

If you have any questions, please reach out to Regan at bargaining@aufa.ca and if you are interested in volunteer opportunities, please connect with Rhiannon at engagement@aufa.ca 

Solidarity, 

AUFA Bargaining Team