A
LESSON FROM THE ACADIA UNIVERSITY FACULTY ASSOCIATION: TRUST THE ADMINISTRATION TO KNOW YOUR
INTERESTS
The
following is an excerpt from an article that appeared in the FAUST (Faculty
Association of the University of St. Thomas) Newsletter for January
Our Administration is
contesting our application to integrate full- and part-time bargaining units at
Acadia. It claims that it's not in the interests of
part-time and full-time faculty to be in one bargaining unit, that there is a
fundamental conflict of interest between the two groups based on different
career goals and opportunities, that one collective agreement could not
comprehend the difference in benefit packages the Administration would be
willing to offer in bargaining. When I hear these arguments made by those who
will sit across the table during our upcoming contract negotiations, it only
strengthens my conviction that the very opposite must be true: The last thing Administration wants to face during
contract negotiations is the strength and unity of one bargaining unit for all
faculty.
Of course, our Administration is using the same
old arguments that we’ve already heard among faculty. We heard them when
full-time faculty voted to bring part-time faculty into AUFA; we heard them
again when both units voted to integrate into one. Nor can these arguments be
dismissed as based on groundless fears; in fact, they are very much grounded in
present reality. For the reality is, so
long as part time and full time faculty are forced to negotiate separately,
then it is always possible for the Administration to expose and to exploit the
differences between the two as potential rivals—to the benefit of the
Administration and to the detriment of both part-time and full-time faculty.
But once you have part-time and full-time faculty in the same unit, then the
Administration faces the new reality of our unity. And the reality of our unity
is not simply formal: There is the strongest common ground among all faculty in fair and
equitable employment for one and all.
It is in the best interest of full-time faculty
to fight for the best contract possible for part-time faculty: a contract which
promises them a decent salary, job security, proper working conditions, health
and pension benefits, and a clear career path for those seeking to become
full-time employees. It is clearly in the best interest of part-time faculty to
seek the best contract for themselves within the security and power of the
larger bargaining unit: The key to a
successful union is the principle of ‘all for one and one for all’.
Wishing
you success in your struggle to unite,
Vernon Provencal
President, AUFA