Bargaining Bulletin #1

Updates & Developments

On June 10, teams representing GMUFA and the Board of Governors met to exchange bargaining proposals and discuss general protocol.

GMUFA opened with a presentation of the history of the institution and the Collective Agreement since 2009, and then introduced the 6 categories of interests presented during the AGM (GMUFA Proposals). The Board’s team presented a list of 30 items of interest for the current round of negotiations. Some key highlights from that list include the recruitment of academic staff, the processes and timelines associated with tenure and promotion, workload assignment, the cycle and criteria for regular performance evaluation, and compensation. Both presentations considered interests in the context of the University’s “Teaching Greatness” Strategic Vision 2030.

Over the summer the GMUFA made a change to the resource member to FANC, welcoming the new ED Jillian Pratt into that role. The bargaining teams have regular meetings booked every Friday through the Fall term beginning September 6. Regular, member-only updates will be provided through the GMUFA vault and mailing list. Please ensure you have activated your member login. Public updates will also be posted from time to time on the GMUFA website home page.

Things to Note

The beginning of Fall term brings with it Annual Report submissions on September 15 and decisions about approvals to hire new faculty. These topics are likely to be a focus of discussion at the bargaining table soon after negotiations resume, so this is a great time to provide FANC with timely and relevant input about your experiences with either. Please send any input to FAOffice@macewan.ca or speak with a member of FANC in person.

Remember that FANC may need some timely data from you as we negotiate various proposals, so if you see requests to complete brief surveys please respond and encourage others to do the same.

Next Steps

Over the coming few weeks, FANC will prepare more specific justifications to accompany information disclosure requests from the University.

Both teams will also propose and agree on topics and proposal to discuss in the first few meetings and develop a process by which an Essential Services Agreement will be created.

We expect to provide another update to members mid-September.

Bargaining Teams