Members of the Brock University Faculty Association (BUFA) have ratified a new collective agreement that makes historic gains for LGBTQ members. Early adopters of OCUFA’s Countdown to Strong organizing framework, BUFA’s enthusiastic organizing work has paid off in their newly ratified collective agreement.
By mobilizing a substantial portion of their membership, BUFA was able to make a significant breakthrough on LGBTQ equity issues, with LGBTQ members now included in the collective agreement’s employment equity language as a designated group. In addition to this victory, the union achieved guarantees on the minimum size of the internal research fund (available to all BUFA members), maintained the cap on courses taught by non-members, and extended tenure-track conversion language to faculty teaching as instructional limited term appointments (LTAs).
Without having to bring in any third parties to facilitate negotiations, BUFA was able to reach a settlement that realized monetary and non-monetary gains for all of its members and successfully fought back all concessions proposed by the university. BUFA has demonstrated that, by mobilizing their members, and showing the university administration the support of their membership, the union’s position at the bargaining table is strengthened.