Faculty Bargaining Bulletin: Vol. 9, No. 5

We returned to the bargaining table with the Employer on August 24th and 25th following the summer pause in negotiations. 

When we last updated Members, we reported that the parties had exchanged proposals addressing the major elements of a new collective agreement. We were hopeful that bargaining could make meaningful progress when we returned to the table. 

There is still work to do. The Employer has made clear where it is prepared to move, and where it is not. At the heart of these negotiations is a simple question:

What does it mean for Western to be truly All In?

Being a world class university isn’t just about rankings, buildings, or ambitious strategic plans. It is about the people who teach students, conduct research, create new knowledge, provide academic leadership and contribute to communities here and around the world. 

Benefits: Is “good enough” good enough?

We put forward a broad package of improvements to the benefits plan, looking at the plan as a whole rather than focusing on one benefit at a time.  

The Employer’s response was to reject all of the proposals, pointing to improvements made in the last round including mental health and vision care.

The fact that improvements were made in the last round does not mean there are no gaps today. Members’ needs change. Costs change. And benefits need to change with them. 

We identified areas where Members could be better supported,  such as increased coverage for physiotherapy, more funds to allocate to PER and HCSA, and access to the benefits plan for Members who hold a standing appointment. 

These are just some examples of the improvements we proposed, and  the Employer rejected the package as a whole.

The Employer says there is limited room to make further improvements from an affordability and sustainability perspective. But benefits are something Members rely on when they need care, to support their families, and manage professional expenses and other costs.

We believe there is room to move, and we expect the Employer to show movement on benefits. 

Salary: 2.5%, 2.5%, 2%, 2% – Is that enough?

The Employer’s current salary proposal is: 

Year One: 2.5%

Year Two: 2.5%

Year Three: 2%

Year Four: 2% plus $700 to base salary

The Employer says this proposal is sustainable and has pointed to faculty compensation, including across the board increases and merit pay, to argue that faculty have kept pace with, and in some cases outpaced inflation.

We do not agree with that assessment.

London is not the low cost city it once was. Housing, food, childcare, and other costs have risen significantly and Members are dealing with those costs every day.

At the same time, Western benefits from a scale that individual Members simply do not have. Western operates a large institution with  thousands of employees and tens of thousands of students. It has the ability to spread costs across the university and generate revenue at a scale that individual households cannot.

Members contribute to the economy in return. We live here. We buy homes and goods here. We pay taxes here. We support local business and contribute to the economic and cultural life of London and the region.

Western benefits from the work we do, and Western’s reputation depends on that work. If Western wants to compete as a world-class university, it needs to offer compensation that helps attract and retain the people who make that possible.

We believe there is room to do better. And we expect the Employer to make a more meaningful offer. 

Workload: How many times do we have to say no?

The Employer has once again tabled a proposal that would allow a Dean to impose an  alternative workload for Members the Dean considers to be significantly less active than their unit’s norms for Research or Scholarship Activities.

This is not a new proposal. We have rejected it in the previous two rounds of bargaining and our position remains unchanged. 

The collective agreement already provides a process for addressing situations where the Dean considers that a Member is not meeting  their academic responsibilities. We do not believe that process needs to be replaced with a new mechanism that would give Deans unilateral authority to impose an alternative workload. 

The collective agreement already provides an appropriate means of addressing these kinds of concerns, and we expect the Employer to withdraw this proposal. 

Now we need Members to be ready.

Bargaining continues this week, and we will keep you informed as negotiations progress. Meaningful movement will require more than what happens at the bargaining table.

Watch for opportunities to take actions, show your support for the bargaining team, and stand with your colleagues.