UNIVERSITY
OF MANITOBA FACULTY ASSOCIATION NEGOTIATIONS
On Friday, November
23, the UMFA Membership voted to ratify the terms of
the Collective Agreement covering the period from April 1, 2001 to March 31,
2004. The administration ratified on
November 27.
In this
round of bargaining, the administration sought more control of salaries through
market stipends. Among other things, UMFA wanted
guarantees of faculty renewal, limits on market stipends, and improvements to
salaries, benefits, family leave, research opportunities for librarians, and
protection for faculty against administrative use of anonymous materials in
evaluation and disciplinary proceedings.
Negotiations
went on for most of nine months but no progress was made until early October of
this year when the Association took a strike vote. The strike date was set for
October 22. The Association continued to pursue a settlement and proposed
mediation to the administration. The mediation process took place over two
weekends, during which time the Association was successful in having the
administration improve its offers on a number of key UMFA
issues. In addition, there was agreement on faculty renewal, personnel files
and parity for librarians with respect to research leaves. A final settlement
was not reached, however, and the result was a four day strike which ended when
UMFA proposed sending the dispute to arbitration.
The
arbitration took place on October 27 and 28 with the parties agreeing to
recommend the Arbitrator’s findings to their respective principals for
ratification. The Arbitrator’s decision
favoured the administration’s stance on the substantive cost items but a number
of positions submitted by the administration reflected the gains made by the
Association during mediation. In
addition, the Association was successful in increasing weeks of topped-up
parental leave, improving parking provisions for some members and broadening
access to tuition reimbursement for members.
As a result, the new collective agreement is a significant improvement
over the previous one.
The administration took a hard line prior to the strike, pressing UMFA Members to declare in writing whether they would strike or not and threatening to block strikers’ research. It has refused to accept pension contributions from the Association on behalf of the Members on strike, unlike 1995 when such contributions were allowed. Labour relations at the University of Manitoba continue to be strained.
Details of
the settlement are posted on the UMFA website at http://www.umfa.ca/
Ranjan Roy, President
University of Manitoba Faculty Association