TORONTO, Nov 10, 2021 – The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA), which represents 17,000 securely and precariously employed faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals at Ontario’s universities, stands in solidarity with college faculty across the province as they work to negotiate a new collective agreement.
Represented by the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU), the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology-Academics (CAAT-A) bargaining team has a strong mandate from its members to seek improvements on workload, working conditions, equity, Indigenization, and intellectual property rights. These concerns are shared by OCUFA’s members and must be adequately addressed by Ontario’s College Employer Council (CEC) to ensure a high-quality, accessible postsecondary education system in Ontario.
Full and partial-load college faculty have worked tirelessly during the pandemic to continue offering high-quality educational experiences to students across the province. Improvements to faculty working conditions and workload mean better learning conditions for students— a central priority for our postsecondary education system.
It is disappointing that strong equity provisions and recognition for Indigenous ways of learning, research, and teaching are not a priority for the CEC. It is equally concerning that the individual currently mediating negotiating doesn’t believe these are reasonable priorities for college faculty. These improvements are long overdue in the postsecondary education sector and are an essential part of the province’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation.
Stronger protection for intellectual property maintains the integrity of the learning experience by preserving good jobs and recognizing the labour and knowledge of faculty who have spent years developing courses, research, and educational materials. We know that these innovations are shared with and greatly benefit the broader community. OCUFA members will continue to support their colleagues at Ontario’s colleges and urge the CEC to negotiate a fair deal that adequately addresses OPSEU CAAT-A’s biggest concerns.
Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty, academic librarians, and other academic professionals in 31 member 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. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.
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For more information, contact:
Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-306-6033 or communications@ocufa.on.ca