Negotiations Update
Over the last 4 days we’ve heard from a number of FA members, UPEI students, and members of the Island community who have been taken aback by the UPEI Board of Governors’ recent messaging. Overall it seems that people are coming to realize that while the Board professes to want to resolve this labour disruption, their actions and communications have done nothing to move us in that direction.
There is much to be said about this, but at this juncture it is important to stress that the obstructive and disingenuous behaviour you are seeing now is what the UPEIFA Negotiations Team has been dealing with on their own for the last eleven months. But things are different now. With the Board’s behaviour in full view of the campus and Island community, it has become increasingly difficult to ignore, and it goes a long way to explaining the degradation of our university, of our working conditions, and of our students’ learning conditions.
In their recent emails to students, the UPEI Board of Governors has pointed to the large number of negotiations meetings and the significant amount of time that the parties have spent on this process. But it should not go unnoticed that since our last negotiations meeting (February 28), the Board has done nothing at all to change the current situation, and has refused to meet with the UPEIFA despite our repeated calls to do so. If the Board had been willing to meet for the last month, we very well could have reached a fair and reasonable agreement acceptable to both parties by now. If they truly wanted a resolution, then they would be willing to do whatever has to be done to get it.
Instead, their expensive Chief Negotiator is complaining that negotiation is difficult.
Today, we sent the UPEI Board of Governors’ a letter drawing attention to a number of their misleading statements and encouraging them to once again return to the negotiations table without conditions.
This letter is available at here.
The UPEIFA negotiations team has reserved a meeting room Monday morning to work with our employer’s negotiations team to conclude a collective agreement and end this strike. The Board has made it clear that they have no intention of attending this meeting. Nevertheless, our entire Negotiations Team will be there in the hope that the Board will reconsider its decision.
We have no illusions that this will be easy. But if it is going to take some work, then it is time to do that work: it is imperative that both parties return to the negotiations table without preconditions and prepared to work towards an agreement.
From our picket lines and rallies to the comments in our local newspapers and social media, it has become clear that our students and the local community are behind us. As more and more of our colleagues fly and drive from across the country to join us in this struggle, it is undeniable that we are part of a national academic labour movement fighting for the future of post-secondary education in this country.
What we are doing together at this moment matters for our students, our colleagues, for the province, and – most importantly – for the future of UPEI.
Université Laval
We are happy to report that the Université Laval’s professors’ union (SPUL) has reached a negotiated settlement and ended its strike. Further details are available via CBC. This means that all of the last five (5) collective bargaining rounds in our region have been resolved through a negotiated settlement. We’ll get there!
Thursday, April 6 Events
Because UPEI is closed this Friday, our normal Friday events (i.e. noon “super picket,” rally, and reception) will be held on Thursday. More details to follow!
Election
As you are no doubt aware, the provincial election will be held on Monday, April 3. This is an important election with significant implications for post-secondary education, health care, and even the future of our current job action.
If you are eligible to vote, we encourage you to review the various party platforms and cast your vote accordingly.
Solidarity!
