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Academic Union Requests Strike Vote and Conciliation

September 19, 2024
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The College Employer Council (CEC) and CAAT-A Bargaining team have engaged in 14 bargaining days with 12 more scheduled. After 14 days, we have made some progress and agreed on some items. The Union’s Bargaining team is now escalating unnecessarily by requesting conciliation and a strike vote.

 

The CAAT-A Bargaining team states that it wants a deal before the collective agreement expires; however, their behaviour suggests otherwise.  Consider the following:

 

  • The CAAT-A Bargaining team tabled more than 200 “non-monetary” demands, which are estimated to cost more than $1 Billion. They stated that “costing is not our responsibility”.
  • At the end of Day 11, they tabled their monetary proposal.
  • On Day 14, they escalated bargaining by requesting a strike vote and conciliation.
  • The CAAT-A bargaining team and its locals have been promoting a strike vote across social media since August and preparing members for a lengthy strike since June.

 

They are rushing the process without reasonably assessing the costs or impact of their demands and instead pushing for a strike mandate.

 

Effective Bargaining Takes Time

 

The CEC has met with the CAAT-A bargaining team every scheduled bargaining day to listen, engage in dialogue, respond to proposals, offer counterproposals, and agree on items of mutual interest. We recognize that members’ demands require time and the due consideration they deserve.

 

The CEC acknowledges that there are areas of the Standard Workload Formula (SWF) that should be addressed and is still reviewing the complete Workload Taskforce survey data set (which includes information that the third-party researcher did not analyze). This review will help us make meaningful and sustainable responses to the outstanding demands, including workload. The Flaherty Workload Taskforce report does not provide specifics on how to address workload recommendations.  

 

The CEC remains at the table and ready to continue bargaining.

 

As we continue negotiations this month, a reminder that the Flaherty Workload Taskforce Report, all proposals, and all demands are published on the CEC website. Academic employees, management, students, and community members are encouraged to read both the CEC and Union proposals to get informed.