On December 1, members of the Concordia
University (Edmonton) Faculty Association (CUEFA) voted just over 90
per cent in favour of strike action with 77 out of 81 members voting.
The bargaining unit includes full-time faculty, lab instructors,
librarians and placement-coordinators (education). At this time, the
many contract faculty at Concordia are not members of CUEFA.
Concordia is a small private university in Alberta with five
faculties and 2,333 students. Concordia offers Arts, Science and
Management undergraduate degree programs, as well as Graduate degree
programs in Education, Information Technology, Information Security,
and Psychology. Concordia was founded in 1921 by the Lutheran Church
-- Missouri Synod but in 2015 it effectively self-identified as a secular
institution.
The overwhelming strike vote means that CUEFA members now have the
option to choose to strike in the next 120 days. The current collective
agreement expired June 30, 2021. The bargaining committee plans to
continue bargaining and will share further plans and developments as
they happen. On December 6, the Alberta Labour Board
gave Concordia University permission to lock out the faculty.
The main issue being bargained is instructor workload. It is
currently significantly higher than at any other university in Canada.
To
provide further information to members, students, and the public, CUEFA
has created a space for "Recent Questions" on the faculty website. It
currently displays seven questions and CUEFA’s answers which were
posted after the University publicly announced that the faculty were
taking a strike vote and before the vote was concluded.
Why Is the Faculty Association Going on Strike?
"The Faculty Association is holding a strike vote, which may
potentially lead to a strike. We are seeing if there is support among
the Faculty Association members for job action given where things sit
in the collective bargaining process. A strike vote does not
necessarily mean a strike is inevitable."
Why Would Faculty Be at the Point of Holding a Strike Vote?
"We have been bargaining with the University for a number of months.
While we are making progress on a number of parts of the agreement, we
stalled on Workload in August. We went to mediation, where we bring in
a labour expert to work with both sides on the issue. There was no
movement and despite asking, no response to revisiting
the article beyond what was last offered."
What Are the Biggest Issues?
"Workload, as mentioned above, is the biggest issue for the Faculty.
Currently the workload is significantly higher than at any other
university in Canada. The bargaining team for the Association asked for
a streamed approach, where some faculty would stay at the current
teaching load (4 courses a term) but have no required research
component and some faculty would have a lower teaching load (3 courses
a term) and would have research requirements. We understand that having
to fill those courses with instructors would cost money, and so said
that we would be flexible on how many Faculty they could move to the
lower teaching load. The University offered a 4-3 teaching
load (so four courses one term, and three the other) but increased
research for everyone. While there is less teaching involved here,
there are increased research expectations meaning that workload itself
does not improve, it is just moved around.
"Language was also introduced into the Discipline article that allows
the University to discipline members for no cause. Currently there must
be just cause to initiate any disciplinary action, up to and including
dismissal (or firing).
"Generally, when discussing a package, you want the whole picture.
The university will not present any proposal or language on Salary and
Benefits. The Faculty Association provided our proposal as a part of
our initial proposal package back in June."
Why Did We Hear About a Strike Vote from the President?
"The bargaining team made the decision to not tell the students about
the impending strike vote. We do not know what the results of the
strike vote may be so it is rather premature. As well, we know what an
odd and stressful term this has already been for students and did not
believe that the added anxiety that may be caused by this was
needed at the end of term and before exams without even knowing what
the results might be."
What Happens if the Faculty Vote YES?
"Then the Faculty Association Executive has been given a mandate from
the members that they are not happy with the current state of
negotiations. We have continually kept the members updated on
bargaining and the offers from the University. If we have a mandate,
then we continue to bargain with the University, hoping that we can
come to
some middle ground that works for both sides. If the University will
not continue to bargain with us or will not work with us on the
articles that are of utmost importance to our members, then we have the
right, under the Labour Code of Alberta, to go on strike. We would have
to give 72 hours notice to the University. A strike notice can be
cancelled right up until the moment that the strike starts. A strike
can be cancelled whenever an agreement can be made between both sides."
What Does this Mean for Students?
"It is our goal to keep any disruption to students to a minimum. We
understand the stress and anxiety that may come from this, but we still
do not know the results of the strike vote. We are hoping for a
productive bargaining process where we can come to agreements with the
administration. We do not want to strike, but the current Workload
offer from the University is detrimental to the well-being of our
current Faculty and will cause severe issues with both retention of our
faculty as well as recruitment of new faculty."
So, Has Bargaining Stopped?
"The Faculty Association is fully committed to continued bargaining
with the University regardless of the outcome of the strike vote. We
provided an initial proposal to the University outlining all changes we
hoped to bargain in the Collective Agreement. The proposal we received
in return from the University was a commentary on the
intention to make changes but very little information on the specifics
that they are asking for. The chart on the University website is very
misleading as there has been language provided on every article that we
have proposed changes for."
Everyone in post-secondary education -- faculty, staff, students --
should support the Concordia University (Edmonton) Faculty Association.
With their strike vote, they are defending their rights and those of
their students, pointing out that their working conditions are
students' learning conditions. They are also standing up and fighting
for the
public education system upon which the whole society depends.
This article was published in
December 13, 2021 - No. 119
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO081192.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
