Today, the UPEI Board of Governors finally openly expressed in its message to the campus community what has been apparent from its behaviour over the last 11-months: that it has little interest in working with the UPEI Faculty Association to negotiate a fair and reasonable collective agreement.
While it is true that the Board sent 10 new proposals to the UPEIFA on the evening of Friday March 10, few of these proposals provide meaningful movement on your bargaining priorities. Yet it is also important to note that there was the beginning of movement in a few areas such as research support and AVC on-call compensation. While some of those proposals point towards the possibility of eventual agreement on certain issues, we are disappointed that the Board has decided that it is not interested in returning to the negotiations table to discuss these proposals and come to an agreement.
What the Board has made clear is that while they would certainly prefer a minimal labour disruption, they are not prepared to do the difficult work of negotiating a fair and reasonable agreement to minimize or avert that disruption. Despite beginning their recent message to the campus community highlighting their ongoing commitment to using all means to achieve a collective agreement, we learn just a few paragraphs later that in their view interest arbitration is the only viable option.
To be clear, agreeing to interest arbitration means that we have decided that the systemic issues that need to be addressed at our institution are simply too big or too much trouble to fix. It means empowering the people who manage our institution to behave in the future much as they have behaved in the past. It means giving up on the possibility of meaningfully improving our working conditions and our students’ learning conditions.
It should not pass unnoticed that the Board chose to ignore four recent cases of faculty and administrations reaching negotiated settlements (Dalhousie University, Cape Breton University, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and Saint Mary’s University) and instead highlighted several instances when university administrations exhibited similar resistance to reaching a negotiated settlement. The result was a protracted labour dispute, our colleagues’ reluctant agreement to enter interest arbitration to rescue an academic semester, and an arbitration decision that not only failed to address our colleagues significant concerns but also deprived them of the experience of having meaningfully and collectively shaped their working conditions.
Notwithstanding the Board’s view of what can be achieved in interest arbitration, it’s worth pointing out that in one of those recent decisions, the arbitrator made it clear as is standard practice that he was not prepared to rule on “breakthrough” issues. In collective bargaining, breakthroughs are proposals by either party that have the potential to significantly change the workplace. Because such changes are likely to have a major impact, arbitrators avoid ruling on these issues with the understanding that such changes should come about not through interest arbitration but rather the challenging work of negotiating a settlement.
UPEI faculty members, librarians, sessional instructors, and clinical nursing instructors have made it clear that they are up to this challenge. Based on the Boards recent message, it appears all but inevitable that this Monday those people will be on the picket line collectively withholding the only thing they have – their work – in the hope that this can lead to changes that are absolutely vital for the long-term sustainability of the only Island university.
But that’s not going to be enough. UPEI belongs to the entire community. If we want more teachers in the classroom, more course options, less exploitation of contract academic faculty, and adequate research supports and facilities, the whole community has to be willing to stand up for these priorities. This is the time to reach out to students, colleagues, family, and friends and invite them to join us in this struggle.
Let’s work together to build a better UPEI.
Solidarity!
