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Forum on addressing the rise of precarious work in academia takes place at U of T

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“If you understand what is happening in society, you understand what is happening in our universities”. Wayne Lewchuk opened the forum about the changing nature of academic labour with a powerful statement that in every part of our economy, including our universities, there is a growing number of precarious jobs. A recent study, which he jointly authored, called “It’s More than Poverty” documents that working these short-term contracts or temp jobs has negative social and personal impacts, such as heightened anxiety and limited community connection. Lewchuk argued that as universities increasingly mirror the corporate sector, employees are seen as liabilities rather than assets.

Ontario universities have seen an explosion in the number of contract faculty members – paid by the course with little or no job security and few benefits. CBC radio producer and contract faculty member Ira Basen talked about the reality facing young academics who, after more than a decade of university studies and often laden with student debt, end up caught in a trap of stringing together temporary contracts. Still hoping to get a full-time permanent job, many contract faculty also attempt to keep up with their research and write articles on evenings, weekends and between contract jobs.

Winnie Ng turned our attention to equity – a key challenge for our universities. Young scholars are more likely to be women and people of colour, who Ng suggested continue to bear great injustice as universities join in the race to the bottom. Ng challenged the audience to work towards solutions by renewing union representation with an emphasis on sectoral bargaining and solidarity; creating employment equity bridging programs to ensure contract faculty and faculty from historically marginalized groups are not left behind; collecting data to substantiate and sharpen our claims; and building coalitions with students, parents and the public that link fair employment and quality, affordable education.

These presentations were followed by a passionate discussion focused on the personal and professional costs being borne by contract faculty members. There was anger and disappointment about the current state of academic labour, which were followed by calls for building more solidarity in our university communities and for students and faculty to work more closely together to develop solutions to the challenges facing contract faculty.

It’s clear that being a contract faculty member – with no job security, difficult working conditions and few benefits – is a problem that should concern all of us whether we are students, fellow faculty, or the public who fund universities.

The issues facing contract faculty are not unique to the university sector, and our response is part of a broader agenda for good jobs for all – a movement to create good jobs that can support our families and build our communities.

Thanks to CUPE 3902 for organizing the event at the University of Toronto as part of Fair Employment Week.

Data check: Austerity and European universities

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New data from the Times Higher Education explores the impact of austerity on European universities. Their analysis of finances and student numbers from 2008-2013 paints a fascinating picture of the different paths taken by countries struggling with the need to accommodate increased student demand and the long hangover of the Great Recession.

In all nine countries surveyed, student numbers continue to expand. However, public funding charts a far more variable course. Some jurisdictions have managed significant increases in public investment, while others have imposed deep cuts:

Growth countries

  • Sweden has increased funding by 23 per cent, while student numbers rose by 7.6 per cent.
  • Norway also increased funding by 23 per cent, and saw a jump of 17 per cent in student numbers
  • Germany rounds out the club of 23 per centers, and saw enrolment boom by 34 per cent.

Modest cut countries

  • Funding dropped by 0.6 per cent in the Netherlands, while student enrolment increased by 13 per cent.
  • Spain cut funding by 15 per cent, and saw a small increase in student numbers – five per cent.

Deep cut countries

  • In England, funding for higher education fell by 35 per cent while enrolment climbed by nine per cent. The huge loss in public revenue was largely offset by a significant increase in tuition fees.
  • Ireland also saw a 35 per cent drop in funding, and a 19 per cent increase in enrolment. Modest tuition fee increases have not filled the gap.
  • In Hungary, funding dropped by 46 per cent while enrolment grew by 15 per cent. These cuts prompted student protests in 2012.
  • Funding in Greece has plummeted by 54 per cent, while enrolment has climbed by 11 per cent.

The impact of these funding changes have not been explored in depth. However, as student demand continues to rise, countries that cut funding to higher education will have a hard time maintaining a high-quality educational experience in the absence of new revenue. So, they will either have to charge their students high fees (as in England), or see their institutions lose ground to Sweden, Norway, and Germany.

Settlements ratified at Guelph and Laurentian

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Faculty at the University of Guelph have ratified their new agreement with the university administration. The three-year deal, which will run until 2016, contains yearly aggregate average salary increases of 2.46, 2.88, and 3.77 per cent. Faculty negotiators were also able to preserve the existing lay off language in the collective agreement.

Faculty at Laurentian have also ratified their new settlement, with 87 per cent voting in favour of the deal. At press time, details of the agreement were not available, but will be published in a future issue of OCUFA report.

Only a few spots left for the OCUFA 50th Anniversary Conference

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Only a few spots remain for OCUFA’s 50th Anniversary Conference, “Faculty Associations in the 21st Century.” The event will take place in Toronto on October 24, 2014.

The conference will examine the evolution of OCUFA and university faculty associations over the past 50 years, consider what they have accomplished, and then explore how faculty associations can remain vital and strong into an uncertain future.

Key themes include:

  • OCUFA at 50: Exploring our past, celebrating our present and planning our future
  • How faculty associations can respond to the challenges of changes in labour relations and the academic labour market
  • Expanding the scope of engagement with other associations and unions, local communities and the broader public
  • Creating inclusive organizations: lessons from the past, opportunities for the future
  • Promising developments in faculty activism in Canada and beyond

Join us for a day of insightful presentations and engaging discussion with speakers and participants from universities and research institutes in Canada and the United States.

Like previous OCUFA conferences, a diversity of views will be sought in each of the keynote and panel sessions.

The conference will be held at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto. For more information, and to register, please visit the conference page.

Higher education in the news: October 6-10, 2014

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There were a few news stories of particular interest to faculty this past week:

  • The senate at OCAD University passed a motion of non-confidence in the chair of the committee tasked with determining whether President Sara Diamond’s contract should be renewed. The move highlighted ongoing tensions between faculty and the president. Charles Reeve, President of the Faculty Association, noted, ““Everyone needs to trust the process and people did not trust the process.”
  • The Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) is protesting a motion that would bar anyone on the CUASA executive from holding a position on Carleton’s Board of Governors. In a letter to Carleton’s President, CUASA President Chantal Dion called the move “a blatant attack on Carleton’s unions and the right of our members to participate in collegial governance.” Dion’s full letter can be read here.

 

OCUFA announces winners of the 2013-2014 Teaching Awards

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The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce the winners of its prestigious Teaching and Academic Librarianship Awards. Since 1973, these awards have recognized exceptional contributions made by professors and librarians to the quality of higher education in Ontario.

“We need universities to fuel the future, and you can’t have great universities without great professors,” said OCUFA President Kate Lawson. “This year’s winners of the OCUFA Teaching Award embody the commitment, skill, and passion that create incredible learning opportunities for students across Ontario.”

The 2013-2014 Teaching Award recipients are:

  • Marshall Beier, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science, McMaster University
  • Tamara Kelly, Associate Lecturer in the Department of Biology, York University
  • Margaret Jane Kidnie, Professor in the Department of English, Western University
  • Donna Kotsopoulos, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Department of Mathematics, Wilfrid Laurier University
  • Edmund Pries, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University
  • Karen Reid, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto

41st annual awards ceremony will take place at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto on October 25, 2014.

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 professors and academic librarians in 28 faculty associations across Ontario. It is committed to enhancing the quality of higher education in Ontario and recognizing the outstanding contributions of its members towards creating a world-class university system.

Challenges of precarious academic work featured on The Agenda

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Last night, TVO’s The Agenda featured Kane Faucher, a contract faculty member at Western and Laurier, discussing the experience and challenges of precarious work. The segment was part of a program examining the rise of casual and part-time work in the Canadian economy. Precarious work is no longer just found in so-called low-skilled jobs- it now cuts across white collar and professional work.

 

WUFA sends message to students

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In advance of a planned one-day strike action on September 15th, the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) has sent a message to concerned students explaining what the action means and why it is happening. The message is reproduced in full below:

The Faculty Association of the University of Windsor (WUFA) plans to take a one-day strike on Monday, September 15th. You have a right to know what is happening and why.

If there is no settlement of our dispute, WUFA will be on strike on Monday. The strike will last from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The entire campus will be affected. Students will have access to campus; however, professors will not be in class or in their offices or in their labs, and librarians will not be on duty.

WUFA will post a bargaining update by 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, September14th on our website for students: wufa.ca

Our decision to take strike action was not made lightly. The University Administration has left us little choice. At issue for us is our right to collective bargaining. Without collective bargaining, employees – even professionals like us – have no voice or effect in their workplace.

WUFA has been trying to negotiate a collective agreement with the University Administration since mid-May. In late July, the Administration abandoned collective bargaining and unilaterally imposed terms and conditions of employment of its own design on your professors and librarians. Our Negotiating Team offered the Administration 16 days for bargaining in August, yet, there have been no face-to-face talks for over five weeks. This is an unprecedented situation in the university sector.

Professors and Librarians care deeply about the quality of your education. We will only disrupt classes, and our own work, as a last resort. We would much rather be in the classroom than on the picket line.

The purpose of WUFA’s picket line will be to inform students and the public of our situation. No one will be stopped from coming on to campus. Interested students are invited to join our picket lines.

Strike vote gets strong support at Guelph

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Faculty at the University of Guelph have voted to authorize a strike if one becomes necessary, with 89 per cent voting in favor of the strike mandate.

UGFA called the strike vote to secure gains already made at the bargaining table and to provide momentum to reach a fair settlement with the employer. UGFA had two days of conciliation this week, and the positive vote result indicates strong support for the association’s bargaining team going forward.

UGFA negotiators have already achieved provisions that will protect job security and address workload issues. All of the remaining issues are monetary.

Tuition fees in Ontario to hit nearly $9,500, according to CCPA

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A new study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) – Tier for Two: Managing the Optics of Provincial Tuition Fee Policies – finds that tuition fees across Canada continue to rise, as public funding falls. The report notes that Ontario consistently has the highest tuition fees in Canada, and predicts that fees in the province will hit $9,438 by 2017-18.

Across Canada, tuition fees almost tripled between 1993-94 and 2014-15. The CCPA projects that tuition will increase by an additional 13 per cent by 2017-18. In Ontario, fees increased by 259 per cent, and are projected to rise by an additional 12 per cent over the next three years. According to the analysis, Ontario (along with New Brunswick and Saskatchewan) is one of the least affordable provinces for middle-income earners to attend higher education.

The report highlights the need for increased public investment in higher education, in order to halt the decades-long march towards higher, and more unaffordable, fees.

The full study is available for download here. The CCPA press release can be read here.

Brock faculty ratify new agreement

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Faculty at Brock University have ratified their new agreement with the employer. The deal, which will run until June 30, 2017, was approved on August 29, 2014. The university’s Board of Governors ratified the agreement on August 25, 2014.

The Brock University Faculty Association (BUFA) was able to secure provisions to protect the quality of teaching and research; ensure equitable workload; and keep compensation competitive with other universities in Ontario. The new deal also contains enhancements to academic freedom for librarians, and a new joint committee for reviewing the financial exigency process.

More details can be found on the BUFA Website.

Windsor faculty announce one-day strike, job action plan

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The Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA) will be going on a one-day strike on Sept.15 with the intent of forcing the university administration back to the bargaining table, the association has announced. The one-day stoppage will be followed by a series of rolling half-day job actions. If a deal is not reached by October 1st, a full work stoppage will occur at a date to be announced.

“We are very close to a deal and we are confident that, if the University administration returns to the table in a spirit of compromise, we could have this issue resolved without impacting classes,” says Forrest. “I personally invite President Wildeman to send his bargaining team back to the table to work things out and get this deal done.”

Forrest says WUFA is encouraged by University President Alan Wildeman’s recent CBC Radio interview where he indicated the administration is willing to return to the negotiating table.

“The substantive monetary differences between WUFA and the administration are relatively small. If this administration has decided to return to collective bargaining, we could settle all this very quickly and avoid a lot of pain for students, faculty and the whole university community,” said Forrest.

Over the past three weeks the WUFA negotiating team has been working closely with the mediators in an effort to restart negotiations. During this period, and for several weeks before-hand, the University administration has refused to participate in the collective bargaining process. Although WUFA has a 40-year history of good labour relations with the University of Windsor, the current administration has bypassed the bargaining process, and unilaterally imposed new terms and conditions of employment on July 28, four weeks after the previous contract expired, Forrest explains.

On September 3, WUFA decided that if there is no settlement of current contract negotiations by midnight Sunday, September 14, 2014, faculty members, librarians, and AAS ancillary staff, including rike vote for September 8 & 9 coaches, teaching-learning specialists, and part-time faculty, will hold a one-day strike on Monday, Sept. 15.

The one-day strike will be followed by rotating half-day strikes (a.m./p.m.), to be announced two hours in advance. If no settlement is reached by October 1, the union will implement a full work stoppage at a date to be announced.

“Believe me, we are not a group of employees that wants to go on strike, which is why we’ve been so reluctant to make this decision. But our members really don’t see any choice as long the administration completely ignores the principle of negotiating with us and we continue to work under unilaterally imposed terms and conditions of employment.” says Forrest.

Tune in Sunday to a CBC radio documentary on precarious faculty

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“Class Struggles” – a CBC Radio documentary airing this Sunday – presents faculty across Ontario and Canada with an opportunity to begin e a national conversation about the growing precarity of university sector workers.

Interviewer Ira Basen spoke with part-time faculty at several universities across Ontario. The documentary looks at the challenges facing precarious faculty. It adds a Canadian voice to the part-time faculty narrative, which is often dominated with stories and perspectives from south of the border.

In speaking out about precarious working conditions in universities across Canada, contract faculty member puts themselves at risk. The documentary is apt to anger some administrators, who may seek to re-frame the debate in terms that obscure the challenges faced by precarious faculty. It is important that we support those who speak out publicly about their working conditions.

To support our contract faculty members and to help shape a progressive public debate on the important issues raised in the documentary, please listen to the documentary, and consider leaving a response on cbc.ca.

Class Struggles is a one-hour documentary, airing Sunday, Sept. 7 on The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright, CBC Radio One (91.5 FM) or online at: http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/

Strong support for strike mandate at Laurentian

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On Tuesday, September 2nd, members of the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA) voted 90% in favour of a strike mandate to support their negotiating team.

“We are heartened and gratified by this strong endorsement by our members,” said LUFA President Anis Farah. “We hope that this will bolster negotiations, and that we can arrive at a fair and equitable agreement with the Board of Governors in a timely fashion.”

The faculty has been without a contract since July 1. Negotiations for a new contract began in May when LUFA submitted a comprehensive set of proposals to the employer. LUFA is seeking to improve workloads so that faculty can devote more time to research and training graduate students, and calling for comparative compensation to other academic workers in the sector.

The employer’s negotiating team refused to enter into substantive monetary and academic workload negotiations until incomplete offers were submitted to LUFA in August. These offers are considered totally unacceptable by the LUFA negotiators.

“At a time when Laurentian’s revenues and spending on renovations are at record levels, the administration’s refusal to even attempt to move faculty remuneration and benefits towards the norm in Ontario is unreasonable,” Farah added.

“The proposals presented by Laurentian’s administration would broaden the gap between the average faculty salary at Laurentian and that of the Ontario university system,” explained Farah.

LUFA has not announced a strike date at this time.