Over the last 10 months, the UPEI Faculty Association has demonstrated a willingness to move from our bargaining positions if there was a reasonable opportunity to address it’s members’ significant concerns. For example, during conciliation we dropped half of our proposals, both to focus on your top priorities and in the hope that our willingness to compromise would be reciprocated by our employer.
Today, when we resumed direct negotiations with your strong strike mandate, we were optimistic that we would encounter an employer who had heard your message loud and clear and who would finally be willing to sit down to negotiate a fair and reasonable agreement. To facilitate reaching an agreement, the UPEIFA Executive Committee also voted to significantly revise our salary proposal. The revised salary proposal is:
- July 1, 2022 – 6%
- July 1, 2023 – 6%
- July 1, 2024 – Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) Clause
This new proposal recognizes the importance of addressing our unique inflationary context while also remaining sensitive to financial pressures. Moreover, this proposal provides room for movement in negotiations should our employer take an interest in addressing your other bargaining priorities.
The COLA clause in the last year provides for a percentage increase to all salaries and salary scales by the increase of the PEI Consumer Price Index starting with the base month of July 1 and concluding June 30 by the amount this increase exceeds two and one half percent (2.50%). This amount is to be rounded to the nearest one tenth of a percentage (1/10%). If the increase of the PEI CPI is less 2.5%, the pay raise shall be 2%.
In response to the roughly 50% reduction in our salary proposal, the employer indicated that they did not view this new proposal as actual movement and that they would never consider a COLA clause.
Despite our strong strike mandate and willingness to compromise, our employer’s negotiations team once again made it clear that they saw little reason to meaningfully move from their current positions.
It’s important to understand what we mean by meaningful movement. Movement involves revising proposals to bring them closer to the other parties position. But such movement only becomes meaningful when it also addresses in a concrete way your significant workplace concerns. What was evident at the bargaining table today is that while the UPEI Board of Governors would like to be recognized as doing everything in its power to avoid a labour disruption, its attention seems squarely focused not on addressing you significant concerns but rather on laying the foundation for a public campaign to move all outstanding issues into interest arbitration.
There are a number of problems with interest arbitration but first and foremost is the fact that interest arbitration is not designed to deal with complex bargaining issues. When faced with complex issues, arbitrators will often push those issues to the margins and instead focus on relatively simple issues such as wages and other forms of compensation. Despite that focus, salary adjustments tend to be significantly lower in interest arbitration than in negotiated settlements. The most recent examples of post-secondary interest arbitration have also produced agreements that did little to improve our colleagues working conditions and their students learning conditions. It’s little wonder that employer’s across the country have increasingly looked to interest arbitration as a way to avoid addressing their employees’ workplace concerns.
Recent collective bargaining rounds in our region indicate that many of our colleagues have come to recognize the pitfalls of interest arbitration. Over the last year, Dalhousie University [PDF], Cape Breton University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Saint Mary’s University all managed to conclude collective agreements through negotiated settlements rather than interest arbitration. This led to better collective agreements that address many of our colleagues most pressing concerns. Equally important, these agreements have been widely supported by union members which is absolutely vital for maintaining a positive working and learning environment.
Unfortunately, yesterday’s bargaining session reinforces the fact that while the UPEIFA has meaningfully moved from its initial positions in order to reach an agreement, our employer has seen little reason to follow suit.
To be clear, the best way to avoid a labour disruption and address your significant concerns is through a negotiated settlement supported by both parties. For the future of our institution, we remain committed to reaching such a settlement
Solidarity!
