PRE-NEGOTIATING
COMMITTEES
Before AUFA’s Negotiating Team meets the Board of Governor’s representatives at the table to negotiate a 12th Collective Agreement AUFA must conduct a series of pre-negotiation strategy sessions under the guidance of four pre-negotiating committees. These committees are the Financial Benefits Committee, the Appointment and Working Conditions Committee, the Legal and Technical Committee, and the Research Committee. The first three committees are mandated by the AUFA Constitution, the fourth came into being as a result of a motion put forward by the AUFA Executive at the January 2006 AUFA meeting.
The Financial Benefits Committee is charged with responsibility for opening up discussion on the pension and insurance plans, and with drafting salary, pension, and individual and group benefits proposals for consideration by the membership. This committee should, after such discussions are held, attempt to generate a consensus position, have that position confirmed by the membership, and then communicate it to the negotiating team.
The Appointment and Working Conditions Committee is responsible for collecting membership positions on appointments, reappointments, promotion, tenure, leaves, workload, and general working conditions. After generating what they believe to be a consensus of member opinions, desires, and positions, this committee should test their consensus in front of the membership, and then communicate it to the negotiating team.
The Legal and Technical Committee is responsible, in the context of pre-negotiating, for consulting the membership with a view to drafting proposals relating to grievance, arbitration, union security, existing practices, discrimination, academic freedom, management rights, and financial exigency. The L & T Committee should follow the same process described above for the other pre-negotiating committees.
The Research Committee is not defined by the AUFA Constitution but was proposed in response to a recognized need during our last round of negotiations. The Research Committee will be charged with collecting and organizing the information necessary for AUFA’s negotiating team to make the strongest case possible for the demands to be made at the bargaining table.
At an AUFA meeting this year the executive was told by the members present that the ideal situation would be to establish these committees by the end of this academic year so that the committees themselves could prepare over the summer to hit the ground running when the next academic year commences. Such a schedule should enable the pre-negotiating committees to consult the membership during the fall term and prepare their reports for the negotiating team by no later than the middle of the winter term. This way, it is hoped, AUFA will be in a position to negotiate with the Board’s representatives before entering the final weeks of the 11th Collective Agreement. Hopefully, such an approach will encourage reasonable behaviour on both sides of the table by reducing the pressure to reach an agreement in too short a time.
Richard Cunningham