Back to top

Membership in the Bargaining Unit of Academic Staff Members Serving on the Board of Governors

CAUT Policy Statement

Academic staff members who serve on the Board of Governors should retain the full protection of the collective agreement. To have this protection, they must retain full membership in the bargaining unit. Members may have to excuse themselves during Board discussions of collective bargaining.

At some institutions the labour board certificate excludes members who serve on the Board of Governors from membership in the bargaining unit. CAUT advises in these cases that associations include a clause in their collective agreements  which ensures that members temporarily excluded from the bargaining unit because of their membership on the Board shall retain all rights and privileges provided by the agreement, including academic freedom, as if they were members, and that any dispute  involving an excluded member’s terms and conditions of employment will be resolved using the process outlined in the grievance/arbitration clause of the agreement.

Approved by the CAUT Council, November 2010.