Work Stoppages

AUFA and AU periodically enter into negotiations to revise the existing collective agreement. If the parties cannot reach a mutually acceptable resolution, then AUFA members may strike, AU may lock AUFA out, or both. This FAQ explains work stoppages as they affect AUFA members.

What are strikes and lockouts?

A strike is a cessation of work by employees in order to pressure the employer to agree to a set of proposals. Usually, this involves not attending the workplace but can also entail a formal work-to-rule campaign.

A lockout is when an employer denies its workers work (usually by restricting access to the workplace) and wages in order to pressure the workers to agree to a set of proposals.

In any dispute, workers may strike, an employer may lock out, or both. Strikes and lockouts occur after collective bargaining has reached impasse. Strikes and lockouts end when the parties agree to a new collective agreement.

What is bargaining impasse?

Bargaining impasse occurs when one or both sides conclude that no further progress at the table is likely to be made. At this point, there are several options:

1. Both parties can agree to enter voluntary mediation, where a mediator helps the parties to seek resolution.

2. Both parties can agree to send the dispute to arbitration to have it resolved by a neutral third party (see below). It is worth noting that AU has declined to do this in past negotiations with AUPE.

3. Either party can request that the Labour Board hold a proposal vote. If the employer sought a proposal vote, AUFA’s members would be polled by the Labour Board to determine whether they wish to accept AU’s current proposal.

4. Either party can commence a process that may lead to a work stoppage.

What steps precede a work stoppage?

The parties must complete five steps before a work stoppage can commence:

1. Essential services agreement (ESA): The parties must come to an arrangement that ensures that services essential to ensuring the life, health and safety of others and public order continue to be provided during a work stoppage.

2. Formal Mediation: Upon application of either party, the government appoints a mediator who works with the parties to try to fashion an agreeable settlement. If both sides accept the mediator’s recommendation, then it becomes the new collective agreement.

3. Cooling-Off Period: If no agreement is reached during mediation, there is a mandatory cooling-off period of at least 14 days. During this time, the parties can continue negotiations.

4. Strike Vote/Lockout Poll: After the cooling-off period, the union may apply to the Labour Board for a supervised vote to authorize strike action. Similarly, the employer may apply to the Labour Board for a supervised lockout poll to authorize lockout action. A strike may only commence if a majority of AUFA members who vote cast their ballot in favour of a strike.

5. Notice of Strike or Lockout: Once one (or both) party has secured authorization (i.e., a majority vote) to strike or lockout, it may serve 72 hours of notice on the other party that a work stoppage will commence.

At any time during this process, the parties can conclude a new collective agreement. The process is lengthy to allow time for the parties to explore all settlement options.

What will happen during a strike or lockout?

This depends somewhat upon the employer, but you can likely expect to lose physical and digital access to the workplace for the duration of the work stoppage. Consequently, you may wish to ensure you have access to any research or professional materials you will need to access during a work stoppage.

You will also likely see a cessation of income and suspension of pensionable service and contributions. During any work stoppage, AUFA members will receive strike pay from the CAUT Defence Fund. Strike pay is approximately $90 tax-free per person per calendar day starting on the fourth day of a strike. AUFA will direct deposit strike pay into your bank account. AUFA has also set aside funds to ensure the continuation all benefits (health, dental, life) during a work stoppage by paying the premiums.

How will AUFA continue operations during a work stoppage?

AUFA has collected non-AU phone numbers and email addresses for approximately 95% of its members. AUFA will use this information as well as its blog to maintain contact with members during a work stoppage.

What will AUFA expect of members during a work stoppage?

The withdrawal of labour is a typically key source of pressure on the employer during a work stoppage. The main purpose of withdrawing labour is to disrupt AU’s operations. AUFA’s executive will determine how a labour withdrawal will work. This might include a full walk out, a partial walk out, or rotating walk outs. AUFA members will be expected to comply with directions from the AUFA executive to not report for or otherwise perform AU-related work during a work stoppage.

Picketing is a common tactic during work stoppages and will form one aspect of AUFA’s strike strategy. Picketing is intended to discourage “customers” from patronizing the employer (i.e., interrupt revenue streams) and also to embarrass the employer (i.e., cause reputational harm). AUFA’s work stoppage planning committee is currently discussing various other strike activities that are appropriate given our dispersed workforce.

What happens if I choose to continue working during a work stoppage?

Under AUFA’s constitution, AUFA’s membership can vote to suspend members. Practically speaking, the consequences for crossing the picket line (which is often referred to as “scabbing”) are more informal and involve social exclusion of free-riders by their peers once the work stoppage is over. The emotional pressure caused by social exclusion is often so acute that it causes scabs to seek work elsewhere.

Are there circumstances that might warrant working during a stoppage?

Members who are qualified to perform essential services may be asked to work to the degree necessary to ensure those services are provided. This is something AUFA will work out with the employer.

The planning committee has also identified members on Research and Study Leave (RSL) or sick leave, and members with special research circumstances (e.g., grant reporting deadlines, data collection, or experiments ongoing on the date of the stoppage) as warranting special consideration.

What are the chances of a work stoppage occurring?

On average, only 1% of negotiations in Alberta ends in a work stoppage each year. The Board’s recent aggressiveness, the government’s rollback mandate, and the opportunity that single-table bargaining presents for them to force major changes in language suggests the risk of a work stoppage is higher than average at AU.

How long will a work stoppage last?

The long-term data on work stoppages in Canadian post-secondary education (n=50) suggests the mean duration of work stoppage is 22.5 days and 90% of strikes last less than 6 weeks.

How long a work stoppage lasts at AU will be determined by (1) the issues over which there remains a dispute and (2) the effectiveness of the pressure brought by each side on the other during a work stoppage.

A third factor affecting duration is whether and when the government intervenes to bring an end to the dispute. The recent Ontario college strike (12,000 workers, hundreds of thousands of students) lasted over five weeks before the workers were ordered back to work.

How would a work stoppage affect my pension?

UAPP indicates that the period of the work stoppage would not be considered pensionable service, since AUFA members would not be receiving pay and neither the member nor the employer would be making pensionable contributions. The effect of this would be to slightly delay the point at which a member received the 80 points (age plus years of service) necessary to qualify for a full pension.

Your pension income is calculated based upon your best 60 consecutive months of earnings. The period of time when members are on strike and/or locked out would not be included in the calculation of the 60 consecutive months.

UAPP indicates that the period of a work stoppage could be treated as pensionable service if that were negotiated as part of the settlement of the work stoppage. In that case, contributions to purchase that service could be retroactively remitted based upon our deemed earnings during that period.

What is an Essential Services Agreement?

An ESA identifies job duties that, if interrupted, would pose a threat to the life, health, or safety of the public or are necessary to maintain or administer the rule of law or public security.

The parties must identify any such duties and reach an agreement on how to ensure these duties are maintained during a work stoppage before a work stoppage can commence.

Can the parties go to arbitration instead of having a work stoppage?

If both AUFA and AU agree, items in dispute can be remitted to an arbitrator. An arbitration sees a neutral third party decide the content of a collective agreement after hearing presentations by both sides.

Why is AUFA preparing for a work stoppage instead of arbitration?

There are several reasons for this. Over the past 10 years, the Board has become increasingly aggressive during collective bargaining. This raises the possibility of the employer using a lockout to force rollbacks in our collective agreement. (When there is a strike or lockout, the existing collective agreement is terminated. Employers will sometimes have a short lock out to do this and then invite workers back to work under the employer’s last offer. Unless workers are prepared to strike, they are stuck de facto accepting the employer’s last offer.

For this reason, AUFA needs to be ready to respond to a lockout while continuing to seek a fair and negotiated agreement at the bargaining table. If the employer offered to resolve matters at arbitration, the AUFA executive would consider such an offer. One of the risks that the AUAF executive would consider is that an arbitrator may split the difference between the parties’ respective positions. Depending on how far apart the parties are, AUFA may be able to get a better deal through a work stoppage than arbitration.

Finally, a seeming paradox, a credible strike plan reduces the chance of a work stoppage because it tells the employer that a lockout would be a hard road for the employer. This makes a negotiated settlement more attractive to the employer.

What can I do to prepare for a work stoppage?

At present, the most important thing you can do is to consider how your household finances would be affected by an interruption in employment income. Keep in mind that you will receive strike pay during any work stoppage (see above). You may then wish to take steps to address any issues that would arise. This might include increasing your savings or securing a line of credit.

Who can I contact about a work stoppage?

Bob Barnetson (barnetso@athabascau.ca) is the chair of the Job Action Committee.