Faculty union and college prepare for negotiations
Are Fanshawe students in for another strike season?
Hopefully not, say faculty members and the college — who both emphasize that their focus is on primarily the students' wellbeing.
“The very heart of our negotiations is the interest of students,” said Don Sinclair, executive director of the College Compensation and Appointments Council.
Paddy Musson, Local OPSEU 110 president added “no one comes into a round of negotiations with expectations of how you hurt students.”
However, with negotiation dates coming at the beginning of November, after students will have their last chance to leave the college with a full refund and no academic penalty - students may be stuck with a sparse semester if negotiations don't go well.
The reason behind the inconvenient timing is a problem of scheduling.
Bargaining between the two sides began in June rather than January because of the Colleges Collective Bargaining Agreement revision in 2008. The union disagreed with this change.
“(It) doesn't make sense in an academic environment,” said Musson. “You get people coming out of their term with some degree of exhaustion.”
Additionally, only 23 days stretched out between three summer months were devoted to negotiations before a conciliator called a recess. Both sides were asked to put forward their calendars to come up with mutually agreeable dates.
Despite knowing that the faculty's contract would be up by the end of this past August for around two years now, it's still taken awhile to get down to business. When asked why they couldn't have started the next round of negotiations earlier — both sides pointed fingers.
“We're prepared to meet at the table at any time,” said Musson, adding they were ready as early as last month.
However, management saw the situation differently.
“We gave dates in September, but they (the union) declined them,” said Sinclair. “Both parties tried to set up dates earlier but (it) didn't work out.”
The bargaining issues on the table are similar to those in the last strike of 2006: workload formula and academic freedom. The union is seeking to ensure “fairness in workload,” and the professional right to determine what is the best way to establish content and evaluate a class. Other issues like benefits are also up for discussion but the aforementioned topics are the “deal-breakers,” said Musson.
“We need movement on these issues in order to settle,” she added.
A settlement is the first priority — and it would prevent locking students into a potentially lost term. “We're going to work hard to get a deal,” said Sinclair, adding he won't speculate on future possibilities of a strike. But the union is prepared to do what it takes to find a solution.
“We will strike if we have to but we will do everything we can to avoid a strike,” said Musson.
Hopefully not, say faculty members and the college — who both emphasize that their focus is on primarily the students' wellbeing.
“The very heart of our negotiations is the interest of students,” said Don Sinclair, executive director of the College Compensation and Appointments Council.
Paddy Musson, Local OPSEU 110 president added “no one comes into a round of negotiations with expectations of how you hurt students.”
However, with negotiation dates coming at the beginning of November, after students will have their last chance to leave the college with a full refund and no academic penalty - students may be stuck with a sparse semester if negotiations don't go well.
The reason behind the inconvenient timing is a problem of scheduling.
Bargaining between the two sides began in June rather than January because of the Colleges Collective Bargaining Agreement revision in 2008. The union disagreed with this change.
“(It) doesn't make sense in an academic environment,” said Musson. “You get people coming out of their term with some degree of exhaustion.”
Additionally, only 23 days stretched out between three summer months were devoted to negotiations before a conciliator called a recess. Both sides were asked to put forward their calendars to come up with mutually agreeable dates.
Despite knowing that the faculty's contract would be up by the end of this past August for around two years now, it's still taken awhile to get down to business. When asked why they couldn't have started the next round of negotiations earlier — both sides pointed fingers.
“We're prepared to meet at the table at any time,” said Musson, adding they were ready as early as last month.
However, management saw the situation differently.
“We gave dates in September, but they (the union) declined them,” said Sinclair. “Both parties tried to set up dates earlier but (it) didn't work out.”
The bargaining issues on the table are similar to those in the last strike of 2006: workload formula and academic freedom. The union is seeking to ensure “fairness in workload,” and the professional right to determine what is the best way to establish content and evaluate a class. Other issues like benefits are also up for discussion but the aforementioned topics are the “deal-breakers,” said Musson.
“We need movement on these issues in order to settle,” she added.
A settlement is the first priority — and it would prevent locking students into a potentially lost term. “We're going to work hard to get a deal,” said Sinclair, adding he won't speculate on future possibilities of a strike. But the union is prepared to do what it takes to find a solution.
“We will strike if we have to but we will do everything we can to avoid a strike,” said Musson.
