When COVID-19 turned education on its ear, college faculty rushed to bring learning online. But quality education isn’t done in a pinch. It requires thoughtful and thorough preparation. College execs claim it’s a slam-dunk – and compound the problem by recklessly increasing class sizes while axing librarians and counsellors: measures that are unfair to students and faculty, and which undermine outcomes. Faculty are bargaining for better – much better.
Over the course of February, members gathered in record numbers in their Locals to discuss the results of their general membership surveys, to listen to one another about the issues of concern they face in their work, and to use this information to set their priorities for this round of negotiations. These ranked demands will go forward for consideration at the provincial demand-setting meeting on April 9 and 10. These demands largely reflected key themes around workload, academic decision-making, precarity, equity, job security, and wages and benefits.
On August 5, the bargaining team for full-time and partial-load college faculty completed a scheduled three days of bargaining with the College Employer Council. During these days, the bargaining team presented all demands not related to issues of compensation.
This week, we met at the bargaining table for three days with the College Employer Council (CEC) bargaining team. The week prior, we had tabled extensive proposals in an attempt to incorporate into our collective agreement the demands presented by our members at local and final demand-setting meetings. Our proposals covered a broad range of issues including workload, staffing, co-ordinators, the treatment of contract faculty, academic quality, and employment and workplace equity.
