Faculty Proposals – Joint Committee Work

The following initial proposals were presented to the CEC negotiations team on August 5, 2021.  Below, you will find our overview of the proposals (which is adapted from the language that we presented at the bargaining table to provide context), as well as the specific changes to the Collective Agreement that we tabled.  In the margins of the table below, you will find brief notes explaining the intent of the changes.

Demands:

The following demand was passed by delegates from the 24 Ontario College Locals, at our final demand-setting meeting in April that apply to joint committee work.  It was drafted following an extensive consultation process with faculty across the province, including surveys and Local demand-set meetings:

• Ensure that all faculty workload is accurately recorded

Overview:

Good labour relations is a goal both teams are working toward this round.  Indeed, the CEC team acknowledged that “one of [your] most important goals” was “fostering an ongoing positive relationship between the union and management.”  In each of the colleges, Local Union officers and College administrators work together with varying degrees of collaboration to address local concerns in an ongoing manner.

The primary vehicle for addressing these issues is through joint committees such as Union College Committee, Workload Monitoring Group, Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee, and the College Employment Stability Committee made up of equal representation from both faculty and management.   These committees are designed to create spaces where the Local and the College can meet proactively to engage in discussion, explore joint solutions, and proactively address emerging issues.  These committees are fundamental to positive working relationships.

In order to work effectively, however, adequate time needs to be allowed for faculty to attend and participate in this work.  Whether or not a manager attributes time on a SWF for joint committees is probably the most unambiguous statement of whether management believes that they and the Union are engaged in a common purpose (and that these joint committees are fundamentally valuable things), or on the contrary, whether they believe that the relationship is fundamentally antagonistic and undesirable.

Sadly, we are hearing from many Locals that Colleges are not granting this time on workloads, which is broadly being interpreted as a direct attempt to undermine the Local Unions.  We understand that this issue also has a disproportionate impact on smaller Locals. Since this is not in keeping with the CEC’s goals, we are proposing language to address the provision of adequate time on workloads for faculty to fully participate on joint committees at their colleges.

In addition, we have proposed changes to the Article 24 Health and Safety language to include psychosocial health and safety. Awareness of psychosocial health needs has been an emerging issue over the past several years, particularly in progressive countries and organizations. The pressures and crises experienced by all workers during the pandemic has only heightened recognition of the need to identify these factors organizationally and to protect workers from these hazards.

Similarly, and in keeping with the rationale we presented yesterday on the need to meaningfully involve faculty in academic decisions, workers need to be directly involved in all decisions around health and safety in the workplace, including planning around public health emergencies such as pandemics.  In many colleges, faculty members of JHSC committees were excluded from other college committees and discussions regarding the pandemic.  The exclusion of these voices from any committee related to pandemic planning will only hinder or limit the creation and dissemination of information about pandemic responses, as faculty and support staff have intimate knowledge of the front-line functioning of the colleges and our students.  Our proposal ensures that College administrators have access to the knowledge our members bring to these tables, which benefits the entire college community and better ensures safety in the workplace.

We have also proposed an update to the language around safety equipment to reflect the conditions of our current pandemic, which will likely not be the last public health emergency we will weather together.