On Friday, CAAT-A members delivered a historic turnout and a mandate in super-majority territory, with 79% in favour of strike action, if necessary (the original message is being shared below). At Algonquin, 76% of our L415 members participated in the vote with 68.0% voting in favor. Quite simply, the turnout at Algonquin and across the province is tremendous! To put it another way, a plurality of all Algonquin and province-wide faculty have sent a clear message in support of the basic demands that were put forward to the Bargaining Team and our employer. This sends a STRONG message to the CEC that we are focused on a fair, negotiated settlement which does not include concessions.
I want to extend a huge thank you to all members of Local 415. Thank you for engaging in this democratic process, for standing up for our students – their learning environment is our working environment. Thank you even more for so clearly supporting our leadership team and the Bargaining Team (which boasts our very own Martin Lee!). A special shout out to Liz Von Moos, our Local secretary and member of the mobilizing team, for the tireless hours put in to organize this effort. A further thanks to all those that participated in the calling campaign, posted on social media, and engaged in countless hallway and Union office chats.
What does this all mean?
The Bargaining Team is committed to negotiating a new collective agreement (CA). They are focused on the mandate we provided through the demands and are working to keep that new CA free of the dangerous concessions that the CEC have tabled. The CEC has proposed new language enabling ways to terminate faculty; introduced probationary periods and loss of seniority rights for Partial-load faculty; proposed the loss of teaching hours for asynchronous teaching; suggested changes to the academic year which threaten vacation periods, professional development, and curriculum renewal time; and raised many, many more concessions.
While negotiations continue, your Bargaining Team will never agree to these threats to our working conditions.
What is next?
We have come so far but now is not the time to take our foot off the pedal. Despite the CEC’s misrepresentations (it was your Bargaining Team who first suggested protections for the semester’s work, not the employer) and their decision to breach the confidentiality of conciliation and side step the process, we believe the message sent via the vote results on October 18th speaks volumes! The Yes vote speaks to our commitment to ensuring quality education and a sustainable work environment for everyone in our college community. We hope the CEC hears this message and comes back to the table in good faith to resume negotiations.
We are so much stronger together!
The Bargaining Team sent out a lengthy and very detailed message on Friday through the OPSEU/SEFPO system to your non-college email accounts available here, in case you missed it (and included below this message).
Otherwise, please reach out with your questions and continue to monitor your emails and social media for further updates. We are committed to this process and appreciate your resounding and ongoing support.
In solidarity,
Tracy Henderson, President
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