Bargaining Status
April 2022 |
April 12, 9:00am to 9:00pm MDT: AUFA members will vote on a tentative agreement between AUFA & AU. April 4, 9:00am to 9:00pm MDT: AUFA members will vote to authorize a strike if necessary. Vote results: 79% in favour of authorizing a strike if necessary, 92% turnout. AUFA's bargaining team has suggested some dates in April for bargaining or mediation to continue. In the meantime, AUFA members should take steps to prepare for a work stoppage should this become necessary. April 1: AUFA offered to delay the strike vote if AU could commit to additional bargaining days and provide assurances against a lockout. AU refused, instead signaling that they would be willing to offer the rejected mediator's proposal but with the option to buy out accumulated professional RSL removed. |
March 2022 |
March 29, 9:00am to 9:00pm MDT: AUFA members will vote to ratify or reject the mediator’s recommended settlement. Vote results: 77% voted to reject the deal, 90% turnout. March 25: The AUFA executive is recommending that members vote to reject the proposed settlement. March 10–24: Bargaining resumed with the support of a second mediator. The mediator drafted a proposed settlement. AUFA’s bargaining team chose to forward the proposed deal to AUFA members for decision. The AUFA bargaining team is remaining neutral. March 8-9: Formal mediation was conducted and concluded. This triggers the 14-day cooling off period before either party can conduct a strike (or lockout) vote. March 2: AUFA presented an updated counter-proposal in preparation for formal mediation. |
February 2022 |
AUFA requested formal mediation. |
January 2022 |
AU finally provided its full offer and filed a baffling complaint against AUFA. |
April to December 2021 |
Bargaining proceeded slowly. AU’s delay in providing a complete opening offer was a source of significant frustration of the bargaining process. AUFA filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint to encourage AU to table a full proposal. |
March 2021 |
AUFA provided its opening offer; AU provided a partial opening offer. AU’s offer included several placeholders for language that would be tabled later, including details on salaries. |
early 2020 |
AUFA members provided input on priorities for bargaining. AUFA’s high-level proposal was shared with and ratified by members. The collective agreement expired on June 30, 2020. Bargaining was delayed by COVID. |
Mediator’s recommended settlement
AU’s opening offer: part 1, part 2. March 8th update.
You can read AUFA’s membership bargaining updates here:
https://aufa.ca/blog/tag/bargaining
The table below contains a summary of each side’s ingoing proposals and any notes as of January 31, 2022. This table includes only substantive proposals; minor language changes have been excluded.
Article/Schedule |
AUFA Ingoing |
AU Ingoing |
Notes |
Schedule A1&2 Wages |
Increases to salaries and grids: July 1, 2020: 2.0% COLA July 1, 2021: 4.0% COLA July 1, 2022: TBD based on Alberta Consumer Price Index July 1, 2023: TBD based on Alberta Consumer Price Index |
July 1, 2020: 0% COLA July 1, 2021: 0% COLA July 1, 2022: 0% COLA July 1, 2022: 0% COLA |
Alberta Inflation was 0.8% in 2020 and 4.8% in 2021. Previous analyses of AU’s financial situation: spring 2021, fall 2019 Other relevant posts: other public sector settlements, trends at AU 2005-2018 |
Schedule B Benefits |
Benefit plan will be fully paid by AU. |
No proposal |
Further context on health benefits. |
Schedule B Vacation |
Four new vacation days that float around July 1 or National Indigenous People’s Day. |
No proposal |
|
All |
Replace gendered language with non-gender language
|
Agreed. |
|
1 Definitions
|
New language limiting the ability to AU to de-designate AUFA members. |
|
|
3 Academics |
Create meaningful appeal process for academic workload disputes.
Add recognition of indigenous elders/knowledge in promotion/tenure process |
Replace existing decision processes for probation, promotion, increment, and research and study leave; combining tenure and promotion for assistant professor; awarding tenure for new full professors. |
AU has not proposed firm language on this article. |
4 Professionals |
Create meaningful appeal process for professional workload disputes.
|
Reduce professional probation to 1 year; eliminate current probationary review process; allow immediate termination during probation at employer’s discretion; service work only at employer’s discretion; eliminate right to request position evaluation; eliminate rules around promotion of professionals. |
|
5 Term appointments |
|
Extend maximum duration of term appoints to new program from 3 to 5 years; eliminate requirement to automatically convert term appointments to regular appointments after 5 years; reduce length of early termination notice; eliminate accrual of professional development, research and study leave entitlements. |
|
6 Salaries |
|
Only academic staff may appeal increment denials. |
|
7 Discipline |
Limiting AU’s ability to use external investigators. Allowing AUFA members to refuse to cross other union’s picket lines. |
Allow unpaid suspension or termination to take effect before appeal process is concluded; eliminate appeal process (shifting costs onto union to grieve discipline), |
Responses to the employer’s initial offer on Article 7: analysis and member response: Further context on discipline at AU
|
8 Grievance |
|
Imposing 30-day time limit to file a grievance. Changes to grievance process. |
|
9 Appeals |
Include academic and professional workloads in appeal process |
Professionals excluded from appeal process; employer chooses majority of members of appeal committee; chair can remove committee members for bias. |
|
10 Harassment |
|
AU wishes to apply its harassment policy to AUFA members.
Updating list of protected grounds. |
AU’s current harassment policy was implemented contrary to the collective agreement and therefore currently is inapplicable. |
11 Academic freedom |
Strengthening professional freedom protections |
Narrowing academic freedom; eliminating professional freedom. |
Responses to the employer’s initial offer on Article 11: analysis and member response |
12 Layoffs |
|
Reduces layoff notice for academics, removing professionals from this article (creating new articles addressing professionals, see below) |
Responses to the employer’s initial offer on Article 12: analysis and member response Further context on layoffs at AU |
15 Research and Study Leave |
|
Eliminate RSL to professionals; reduce RSL for academics. |
Responses to the employer’s initial offer on Article 15: analysis and member response Further context in this bargaining update. |
16 Sick leave |
Specifying when a medical note is required and ensuring AUFA is included in sick-leave, accommodation, and return-to-work discussions. |
|
The parties agreed to gender neutral language for maternity and parental leave |
16 Compassionate care leave |
Extend leave to 28 weeks and allow for serious illness without risk of death. |
|
|
17 Union leave |
Additional work release (100%) for union president and (50%) for bargaining chair. |
|
AU has stopped allowing AUFA to buy out additional leave; this is the subject of a grievance. |
19 Telework |
$2500 start-up grant and $150/mo stipend for working from home. |
|
|
20 External Professional Activity |
|
Narrows permissible external professional activity. |
|
21 Privacy |
Limiting employer’s ability to surveil AUFA members on the job. |
|
|
22 Resignation |
|
Extends resignation notice from 21 working days to 3 months. |
|
25 Health & Safety |
Codifying basic OHS rights. |
Providing rights as per OHS Act and Code. |
Government has rolled back legislative OHS rights; AUFA’s proposal codifies prior rights in collective agreement. The employer offer would subject members to lesser protections under current Act. |
26 Equity |
New language codifying obligation to address TRC calls to action, address equity in hiring, workloads and promotion, and complete periodic pay equity analyses. |
Disbanding Employment Equity Committee; committing to release an employer-created EDI framework by April 2023. |
Responses to the employer’s initial offer on Article 26: analysis and member response |
27 Causal appointments |
|
Eliminate |
|
LOA Contracting out |
|
Eliminate |
|
LOA on disability accommodation |
|
Eliminate |
|
LOA on deans |
|
Eliminate |
AU is separately seeking to de-designate deans from AUFA. |
LOA on Intellectual property |
|
Eliminate |
|
LOA on Spousal Hiring |
|
Eliminate |
|
LOA on Overload |
Establishing consistent pay for overload |
|
|
NEW - Designation |
Require a consultation process for designation changes and requiring AUFA consent |
|
|
NEW – Layoff of Professionals |
|
New layoff provisions for professionals, reducing notice period |
|
NEW – Temporary Layoff of Professionals |
|
New provisions allowing for temporary layoffs of professionals |
|