Bargaining wire: Nipissing, Western in conciliation; Toronto in mediation

Now that the academic year has begun in earnest, bargaining is again heating up on Ontario campuses. Faculty associations at Nipissing and Western, have conciliation dates scheduled in October, while Toronto was in mediation this past weekend. Several associations are heading to the table this month to begin their negotiations.

Nipissing has two conciliation dates scheduled – October 7^th (today) and October 8^th. The Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) has also released the latest edition of its Bargaining Bulletin. While NUFA remains committed to negotiating a fair deal at the table, the Bulletin provides important information of strike preparedness, should job action become necessary. As NUFA points out:

“A strike is, of course, a last resort tactic, but we can’t wait until the last minute to make preparations in the event that negotiations lead us down that road. We have to be ready to stand with courage and conviction to achieve our goal – a just settlement that addresses our key goals of Fair Pay and a Fair Say.”

Librarians and archivists represented by he University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) will be in conciliation on October 27^th and 30^th with Greg Long. Negotiations continue at both Nipissing and Western; conciliation is simply the next step in the collective bargaining process, whereby a third party can help the two sides reach agreement.

The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) had two days of mediation with mediator William Kaplan on October 3^rd and 4^th. UTFA also held a town hall to discuss plans to convert some university pension plans in Ontario to a multi-employer jointly sponsored pension plan (JSPP). One of these initiatives is the OCUFA –led project to explore the feasibility of a JSPP. UTFA’s JSPP resources page links to many of OCUFA’s pension resources.

Elsewhere in the province, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) has its first meeting with the employer on October 7^th. The Osgoode Hall Faculty Association has already had two meetings with their employer, on September 25^th and September 30^th.