The Ford government introduced sweeping legislation to cap public sector wage increases. The proposed legislation represents an attack on the right to free and fair collective bargaining, and is in line with the government’s broader anti-worker agenda. The legislation was introduced on June 5, and although the legislature has now risen until October 28, the bill […]
The Huron University College Faculty Association (HUCFA) has reached its first collective agreement as a union. The faculty association has negotiated terms and conditions of employment on behalf of tenured faculty for many decades and, more recently, for contract faculty at the institution. This latest agreement is special because it comes after the faculty association […]
TORONTO – Ontario faculty are deeply concerned by the Ford government’s attempt to cap public sector compensation increases at one per cent per year. This legislation represents an attack on the right to free and fair collective bargaining, a threat to pay equity and benefits for contract faculty and other marginalized workers, and an erosion […]
OCUFA is concerned about the motives behind the Ministry of Finance’s “consultations” on compensation for workers in the broader public sector. It has become increasingly clear that these consultations are not being conducted in good faith and are, instead, part of the Ford government’s political agenda to undermine the rights of workers and unions in […]
TORONTO – Ontario’s faculty are alarmed by the Doug Ford government’s budget proposal to allocate 60 per cent of university funding based on institutional performance. By design, performance-based funding threatens education quality as it rewards institutions that meet specific performance targets while penalizing those that do not. Faculty are also concerned by signals that the […]
The University of Ontario Institute of Technology Faculty Association (UOITFA) has ratified a three-year agreement with their university administration. This is the first agreement UOITFA has achieved with its newly merged unit after they consolidated bargaining units last year. The agreement applies to tenured and tenure-stream faculty and teaching faculty (who previously had separate agreements), […]
During the week of March 11th, OCUFA member associations from across the province participated in a series of advocacy meetings with MPPs in their ridings. These meetings were organized during a “constituency week” – a week when the provincial legislature is not sitting and many MPPs return to their ridings to hold meetings with their […]
Students come to university to learn, but only so much can be learned from a textbook. Active, engaged learning happens in the classroom when professors get to know students – their interests and their goals. In this new video from OCUFA, Ontario students talk about how their professors have helped them succeed. Their stories illustrate […]
In early 2018, OCUFA formed an ad hoc committee on university governance with a mandate to collect data on the current governance practices of Ontario universities and articulate a vision for collegial governance. This initiative resulted from an increasing concern among faculty associations about the erosion of collegial governance at Ontario’s universities. The committee’s research […]
During the recent Social Media Day of Action in support of Fairness for Contract Faculty, OCUFA released a new video highlighting the struggles faced by contract faculty, and why job security, fair pay, and benefits are so vital. Watch it now: Show your support for Fairness for Contract faculty here: https://ocufa.on.ca/fairness/
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 […]
On Monday, February 11, faculty, staff, students, and community members across Ontario participated in OCUFA’s annual social media day of action in support of fairness for contract faculty. The day was a tremendous success. The hashtag #Fairness4CF was heavily used by community members to voice their support for fairness for contract faculty. This year’s social media […]
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 […]
