Librarians & Archivists: Bargaining Bulletin Vol. 6, No. 18

The faculty associations at Brock, Wilfred Laurier and Ontario Tech have all recently negotiated settlements that offer more than what is currently on the table for Librarians and Archivists at Western.

Our Employer proposed a 4 year deal with scale increases of 3%, 2%, 2% and 1.75% and a flat amount to base salary of $500 per Member in the first and second years. This proposal is particularly egregious given that this unit has served a moderation period which capped their salary and benefits increases to 1% a year for three years. Further, our employer refuses to negotiate over the hiring of additional librarians and archivists or even to maintain the existing complement. This is completely unsatisfactory given that the ratio of students to librarians and archivists has increased from 478:1 to 751:1 between 2010 and 2019 and has not improved since. 

• UOITFA has negotiated a post-Bill 124 reopener settlement for the next two years with a scale increase of 3% in each year. 
• BUFA has negotiated a 3 year deal with scale increases of 3.5%, 3.5%, and 3%, with a flat amount to base salary of $2000 per Member in the first year.
  • They have also established an LOU to increase the number of members (by at least 5 in the first year of the agreement), with the stipulation that 1 new professional librarian will be hired within the life of the agreement
• WLUFA negotiated a 3 year deal with scale increases of 3% in each year

UWOSA, the staff association at Western, also just negotiated a post-Bill 124 reopener settlement for the current year which provides a scale increase of 3% and a flat amount to base salary of $1200 per Member.

The Career Trajectory Fund report we shared last month already reflected disparities between Western and other comparator institutions in terms of the systemic underpayment of Librarians and Archivists at Western. Now, however, we must fight to ensure that the gap does not become even wider. 

Western has made clear that it wants to be a world-class university. World-class research and teaching are founded on well-supported Librarians and Archivists. 

TAKE ACTION

As autumn approaches, we ask you all – Librarians, Archivists and Faculty Members – to keep voicing your concerns where the Employer can see and hear them. We need you to play your part to keep the conversation going and build momentum for the next phase of negotiations.

Get loud on social media by making your own posts or sharing ours:

• Make sure to tag us! 
  • Twitter: @westernu @westernuProvost @uwofa1
  • Facebook: @UWOFA, @Western University 
  • Instagram: @uwofaco, @westernuniversity 
• You can also find videos of Librarians & Archivists discussing bargaining goals on our YouTube channel: @uwofacultyassociation6710  

Use resources like social media profile pics and Zoom backgrounds provided to librarians and archivists in the shared Sync folder (and available for everyone here on the website). 

Get in touch with UWOFA’s Communications Officer (uwofaco@uwo.ca) to make a short video recording expressing a message of support, which would then be posted to social media.

You may have already been contacted personally about ways you can help with building support for our UWOFA bargaining goals and we appreciate those of you who have already responded to those messages. If you have not been contacted, but would like to get involved, please reach out to our Mobilization Chair, David Heap: djheap@uwo.ca.

If you would like to get involved with strike preparations (this is a normal bargaining contingency, NOT an indication that negotiations have reached an impasse or that a strike is imminent) please contact Christy Sich (csich@uwo.ca) or Laura Cayen (lcayen2@uwo.ca) – the co-chairs of the Strike Action Committee.