Cuasa

NEGOTIATIONS BULLETIN

Report by Bob Rupert                                                                                                             September 12th, 1985

University bargainers said last Tuesday at a pre-conciliation meeting that they are fully prepared to settle the current round of negotiations directly at the bargaining table -- including money.

But, management spokesperson David Van Dine said the employer's current 3.8% total compensation offer (about 1.5% on scale) will have to provide "the basis for settlement".

Van Dine said the offer, while not final, is "in the ballpark", and any further movement would amount to no more than "moving a decimal point or two".

He called CUASA's current proposal for an 8.5% scale increase "outside of reality".

The employer also tabled a long-awaited proposal on affirmative action. In actuality the proposal is to maintain the current situation -- departments and deans would be encouraged to seek out and hire qualified women "or men" -- but there would be no real contractual commitment to affirmative action.

CUASA will respond to the proposal at another meeting next Tuesday. What we must have, basically, is a contractually binding commitment to do something about the disproportion-ately low percentage of female faculty members at Carleton.

There was also news on the sessional lecturer issue. But it was not good. CUASA had proposed a reduction of the annual expenditure for sessionals to $750,000 from $950,000. Management had countered with a proposal to increase the sessional budget proportionate with the negotiated scale increase. But on Tuesday that changed.

Employer spokesperson Van Dine said management has reviewed its need for sessional money and is "surprised: to discover that it will need far more than it initially proposed. The employer will be tabling a new position along these lines right away.

This will, of course exacerbate the problem. Neither the university, the faculty, the students nor the grossly underpaid sessionals will benefit from further reduction in the ratio of full-time career faculty members to sessionals. Sessional lecturers should be hired to provide special expertise and meet short-term needs -- not to provide cheap labour.

NEWS ITEM

A two-day strike at Laurentian University has been tentatively settled, pending ratification. While no specific details have been released, the total compensation package look like about 7.5%.

The $7,500.00 load CUASA sent to assist our embattled colleagues will be returned.

CORRECTION

My September 9 Bulletin said the university "has reneged on an earlier commitment that no CUASA member reaching 65 should be forced to retire until the legal position (under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms) becomes clean". In fact, the employer has threatened to renege.