De-designation – What is it and why does it matter?
You have likely heard the term “de-designation", but you may not be sure what it means for you, your job, and the union. Simply put, de-designation is the process of stripping jobs from our union membership. It is a way to weaken our union's collective power, and it is happening right now at AU.
In the August survey, some members indicated that they were unsure how designation, or de-designation, would affect their decisions. We are providing some information on this topic to help members stay informed and be engaged.
Albertan law grants university Boards of Governors the power to determine who is, and who is not in faculty association. While other faculty associations are almost all tenure-track professors with smaller numbers of other groups of employees, AUFA has always been roughly half professionals and academics. Although AUFA has been stable since its founding, AU implemented a new designation policy in 2020. This policy could be used to remove any AUFA professional or academic coordinator from the union, subject to a labour board appeal. Although the only active members AU removed were Deans, AU has repeatedly stated they want to reserve the right to de-designate professionals and academic coordinators. Currently, AU has taken to exclude new professional managers, and multiple “new” professional jobs.
This is perhaps one of the most pressing issues facing members in AUFA. For the past year AUFA has been in extensive discussions with the university over ways to resolve this issue. First in a multi-month mediated discussion, and now at the bargaining table. The results of the mediated discussion were a much stronger mutual understanding of each party's position, and importantly the understanding that AU likes its de-designation power and isn’t interested in giving it up.
AU's removal of positions has led to the exclusion of over 40 positions that would have historically held union rights. For example, AU will take work formerly assigned to unionized positions, change the name, and declare it a role with no history in AUFA. In addition, all new manager positions are excluded despite managers not being listed in their own policy as an exclusion criterion. This is how we lose members, one job at a time.
De-designation of positions doesn’t appear to be initiated by the Alberta government. Rather, the President, Provost, and Chief Human Resources Officer are removing positions from our membership and busting this union.
Our membership is a little over 400 strong, but the more people are lost, the less power the union holds as a collective. This is not only about professional staff. Our strength comes from our unity. Academics and professionals need each other. Right now, the university is targeting professional roles. But if they continue to succeed in stripping away our professional members, it won't be long before others are targeted next, like academic coordinators. This is not a battle for one group; it is a threat to everyone's job security and our collective power.
If you get the chance to speak with the President, Provost, or Chief Human Resources Officer, ask them: What criteria are being used to de-designate positions? Their response, or lack of one, is critical.
The AUFA bargaining team has proposed limitations against removing members in this round of negotiations. We need your continued support to make sure AU understands AUFA members will fight to stop de-designation.
In the meantime, and as we await AU's offer, keep in mind that the President and Provost each received 20% raises in a single year...