OCUFA and the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) congratulates Professor Brian E. Brown on being awarded the Charles E. Brooks Labour Community Service Award, presented by the Windsor District Labour Council in recognition of outstanding contributions in the area of volunteer community service. Prof. Brown, who is a past president of WUFA and the current […]
On September 7, 2016, Statistics Canada released its tuition fee data for 2016-17. You can read the StatCan highlights here . OCUFA researchers have taken a deeper dive into the datasets, and the results are concerning. Ontario’s domestic undergraduate fees are 74 per cent higher than the average in the rest of Canada. Since 2010, they […]
In a vote held on September 7, 2016, members of the Brescia Faculty Association (BFA) authorized its Executive Committee to initiate a strike action if a fair and reasonable settlement is not reached during the collective bargaining process. Members voted 94 per cent in favour of a strike mandate. “Today’s vote sends a strong message […]
As students return to campuses and classes get underway, OCUFA will be working on a variety of initiatives important to professors and academic librarians. Here’s what to look out for in 2016-17: The Government of Ontario’s reform of the university funding model. For the past year and a half, the government has been examining ways […]
The Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) has successfully challenged the neutrality of their pension plan’s actuary in a significant arbitration decision. The following is a message from WUFA President Jeff Noonan concerning this result: Colleagues, On August 24th Arbitrator Pamela Picher issued her ruling in our policy grievance against the administration in the matter of […]
A new report by the Centre for Study of Canadian and International Higher Education (CIHE) at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) has revealed important new information on contract faculty in Ontario. Written by Glen Jones and Cynthia Field, A survey of sessional faculty in Ontario publicly funded universities makes an important contribution to understanding who contract faculty are and, more importantly, what they want. The report surveyed contract faculty at 12 […]
On August 25, 2016 the Ontario Government’s Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee released its final report and recommendations to government on how to close the gender wage gap in the province. The recommendations target three root causes of the gender wage gap: women’s disproportionate responsibility for caregiving work and the absence of adequate public supports, systematic undervaluing of and lower rates of pay […]
In the spring of 2015, the Government of Ontario launched the Changing Workplaces Review – a comprehensive review of employment and labour law to address the rise of precarious work. Faculty associations have been actively engaged in this process, which has been led by two Special Advisors appointed by the government. OCUFA made a submission and thirteen faculty […]
Two weeks ago, HEQCO released a report on university sustainability in Ontario. More concerned with definitions than data, the report nevertheless contained several inaccuracies. OCUFA president Judy Bates wrote to Harvey Weingarten, CEO of HEQCO, with the following clarifications: Dear Dr. Weingarten; I am writing in regards to HEQCO’s recent publication, “Understanding the Sustainability of […]
Following the release of a report showing a systemic gender wage gap at the University of Waterloo, the university moved quickly to give academic women a nearly $3,000 salary increase . The report, produced by a joint working group between the university admin and the Faculty Association of the University of Waterloo (FAUW), was released publicly on Thursday, August 4, 2016. Using regression modelling, the working group […]
The government-appointed Special Advisors of the Changing Workplaces Review released an Interim Report today . It details options for responding to the changing nature of work in the province, including the rise of precarious work. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) hopes the report will serve as a starting point for a bold plan to address precarious work […]
Striking workers from CUPE 926 at Wilfrid Laurier University are back at work following the ratification of a new collective agreement. CUPE 926, which represents regular employees within Laurier’s Department of Physical Resources, went on strike to prevent the employer from unilaterally imposing terms and conditions of work, a heavy-handed and unacceptable bargaining tactic. In […]
In a series of comments made last week, the Government of Ontario has indicated that it wants to move forward with creating mandatory work-integrated learning for secondary and postsecondary students. This policy would mean that every high school, college, and university student would be required to complete some form of work-integrated learning before receiving their […]
CUPE 926, which represents all regular workers within Wilfrid Laurier University’s Department of Physical Resources, is currently in difficult negotiations with the university administration. The employer is seeking to outsource cleaning work on campus, replacing good full-time custodial positions with low-paying precarious jobs. The employer also set a deadline after which they would impose terms […]
Root Gorelick, the Carleton professor at the heart of an ongoing controversy about transparency and accountability at the university’s Board of Governors, has been effectively removed from the Board. His “invalidation” occurred after he refused to sign the Board’s new Code of Conduct, which Gorelick believes is intended to stifle dissent and obscure the Board’s […]