The Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) has ratified a new three-year agreement ending June 2025. The agreement was reached following a strong strike mandate.
QUFA is the first faculty association to fully avoid wage restraint under Bill 124. Annual across-the-board (ATB) increases of 3.5 per cent, three per cent, and three per cent were achieved. Even more significant compensation gains were attained for contract faculty (Term Adjuncts), whose base stipends increase prior to the ATB rates being applied, and who will receive a two per cent increase to pay in lieu of benefits (from six to eight per cent).
The faculty association’s QUFA Disrespected campaign highlighted key priority areas which members organized around to achieve impressive bargaining outcomes. Faculty and academic librarians and archivists demonstrated their commitment to their bargaining demands through one-on-one outreach, displaying demand specific posters, an email campaign, and stepping into leadership roles as picket captains as conciliation moved forward.
As a result, the profile of equity-related work has been raised by including activities that advance Indigenization, equity, diversity, inclusion, anti- racism, and accessibility in several areas, including:
- administrative and professional service
- evaluation
- contract faculty appointments
- renewal, tenure, and promotion
The value of the diverse range of scholarly methodologies and ways of measuring research impact is now acknowledged with respect to appointments, evaluation, renewal, tenure, and promotion.
On the key priority of increased job security and respect for contract faculty members, the new agreement has many notable improvements. Right of first refusal provisions now provide more time for contract faculty members to teach specified courses to gain eligibility. A course taught as a Postdoctoral Fellow also now counts towards eligibility. In another change, contract faculty will now be able to include the following work in appointment reports:
- professional and administrative service
- contributions in pedagogical development
- innovation related to teaching
Adjunct faculty scholarly and creative work, and professional development, will now receive greater support through an increase to an annual fund that provides resources in the form of a salary stipend and/or grant. For Continuing Adjunct faculty, the timeframe to apply for the Full Professor rank has decreased, with eligibility for sabbatical leave in the first year of their promotion to Full.
An annual course release for the purposes of research support is now available for Continuing Adjunct faculty members who have obtained a multi-year grant as a principal investigator; this is a significant expansion of this right. The pay structure for Continuing Adjunct faculty now provides an option for the Adjunct to take on a service load comparable to the departmental norm with an increase in their full time equivalent salary. This, in turn, allows the departmental service load to be shared more widely among full-responsibility and continuing adjunct faculty members.
On workload, the workload standard will now include mechanisms for dealing with extraordinary tasks related to teaching, including deferred grading that extends into sabbatical or nonteaching terms.
Librarians and Archivists’ terms and conditions are now more aligned with faculty, specifically in the areas of sabbatical leave and renewal, promotion, and continuance.