The Queen’s University Faculty Association has ratified a three-year agreement with the Queen’s University administration. Members of QUFA also voted yes in the consent vote for the conversion of the pension plan to the University Pension Plan. If the UPP is created, the expiry of the Collective Agreement will move from April 30 to June […]
On Saturday, February 9 and Sunday, February 10, OCUFA held its second Board of Directors meeting of the 2018-19 academic year. Over the weekend, board members discussed the organization’s current priorities – good jobs, university funding, and capacity building – with a focus on challenges to the postsecondary sector under the current government. During a […]
The Ryerson Faculty Association has been awarded a two-year contract extension by Arbitrator William Kaplan with an expiry of June 30, 2020. The arbitrator’s award included sector comparable salary increases. The arbitrator also awarded the faculty association funds for the provision of retirement benefits and to address the gender pay gap, as well as a […]
TORONTO, February 8, 2019 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce that St. Jerome’s University professor Steven Bednarski is the recipient of the 2018 Lorimer Award. This honour recognizes individuals who have worked to protect and promote the interests of Ontario’s academic staff through collective bargaining. “Steven fought tirelessly […]
TORONTO, February 6, 2019 – A new report published by a working group of the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations exposes substantial issues with student questionnaires on courses and teaching (SQCTs), including endemic bias and systemic discrimination. These end-of-term student questionnaires are common practice at universities across Canada. The report finds that student questionnaire […]
The report of OCUFA the Working Group on Student Questionnaires on Courses and Teaching (SQCT) has now been released . Prompted by increasing reports of the misuse of results and the harassment of faculty through anonymous comments, and by suggestions in the policy community that SQCT scores be used as university “performance” metrics, OCUFA established the […]
The Professor’s Association of Saint Paul University has reached a three-year agreement with their employer. The agreement includes significant advances in collegial governance, including enhanced consultation and information sharing with the faculty association on issues such as supervisory rights and Professor Emeritus status. The association also achieved competitive across-the-board salary increases.
Congratulations are in order for the Brescia Faculty Association (BFA). The BFA managed to organize Brescia contract faculty and get them consolidated into the main bargaining unit just two days before Bill 47 passed. Introduced by Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives, Bill 47 wiped consolidation language from the Ontario Labour Relations Act. The previous Ontario government […]
The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) has reached a four-year agreement with the Western University administration. The agreement includes significant advances towards expanded job security provisions for contract faculty and important improvements and clarifications on the uses of Student Questionnaires on Courses and Teaching in the faculty appointment, evaluation, tenure, and promotion processes. […]
The York University Faculty Association (YUFA) has reached a three-year agreement with the York University administration. As part of the settlement, YUFA achieved a commitment from the university to hire six Indigenous faculty over the life of the agreement, and to work with the faculty association to undertake an equal pay exercise for women, racialized […]
On November 13, faculty from across the province gathered at Queen’s Park for a day advocating for stronger public funding for postsecondary education, fairness for contract faculty, and good jobs. The day started with a breakfast reception attended by numerous MPPs and their staff. The reception featured remarks from David Piccini, the Parliamentary Assistant to […]
On Saturday, October 20 and Sunday, October 21, OCUFA held its first Board of Directors Meeting of the 2018-19 academic year. The weekend oriented new board members to OCUFA and allowed members to discuss the results of the 2018 provincial election and what it could mean for Ontario’s universities. With that context, members reviewed OCUFA’s […]
On Thursday, November 15, the Ontario Progressive Conservative Government released its fall economic statement. The 155-page document offers an update on the status of Ontario’s finances and contains numerous government announcements across many different sectors. Also known as the mini-budget, the fall economic statement outlines some of the government’s plans for the public sector and […]
A new report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives provides yet more evidence that Canadian universities heavily rely on precariously-employed contract faculty. According to data obtained through freedom of information requests to all 78 publicly-funded Canadian universities, more than 50 per cent of all university faculty appointments across Canada are now contract positions. Read the report.
A number of Ontario universities and colleges are paying members of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) – the business lobby group advocating for the rollback of fair labour laws , including paid sick days, fair scheduling rights, and equal pay for contract, part-time and casual workers, in addition to the cancellation of the $15 minimum wage. Given the devastating impacts Bill 47 […]
