Labour Issues

Bill Morneau, the Government of Ontario’s advisor on pooled asset pensions, has released his recommendations on how to combine the assets of Ontario’s smaller public pension plans, including those for university faculty. OCUFA is currently conducting a thorough analysis of his report, which we will make available on the OCUFA website soon. In the meantime, [Read More…]

The Ontario government has signaled its interest in reforming Ontario’s public sector pension plans, and appears to be closing in on a new framework for university pensions in the province. In order to develop an informed response to government proposals, faculty members need a full understanding of the potential impact these government actions could have [Read More…]

A recent report from the US Coalition on the Academic Workforce indicates that close to 70 per cent of faculty in the US are members of the contingent academic workforce. Based on a survey of part-time faculty and instructors, it finds that “those increasingly responsible for educating the undergraduates who reap this earnings premium [of an undergraduate [Read More…]

On June 29, 2012 OCUFA met with Bill Morneau, the Government of Ontario’s advisor on joint asset management, to present its brief on pooling the assets of Ontario public pension plans . The brief highlighted seven principles OCUFA believes are essential to any asset consolidation process: The interests of plan members must be of primary consideration. The ultimate scope of a pooled asset management system [Read More…]

Soaring enrolments mean that more teaching has to be done at Ontario’s universities, but it cannot be done on the cheap, OCUFA Vice-President Kate Lawson told a conference at McMaster University, December 8.         Government underfunding has meant constrained finances for Ontario universities, she said, and that context makes a discussion around the expansion of [Read More…]

The Conference Board of Canada recently reported that, since the mid-1990s, income inequality has increased faster in Canada than in the United States and most other comparable countries. The board observes that forces such as “declines in unionization rates, stagnating minimum wage rates, deregulation, and national policies that favour the wealthy” are responsible for  increasing inequality . All Canadians should [Read More…]