Information
- Category:
- Organizations - Professional Organizations
- Description:
- Welcome! This group has been created to keep Acadia students informed about the issues and current information relating to the faculty strike at Acadia University. This page will be updated with the latest details regarding AUFA's negotiations and press releases.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public to the Acadia network.
Admins
- Jon (creator)
Events
2 past eventsSee All
- AUFA Rally
AUFA Strike HQ
Friday, November 2 at 11:00am - AUFA Rally
Clock Park
Tuesday, October 30 at 11:30am
Video
Basic Info
- Name:
- AUFA Strike Information for Acadia Students
- Category:
- Organizations - Professional Organizations
- Description:
- Welcome! This group has been created to keep Acadia students informed about the issues and current information relating to the faculty strike at Acadia University. This page will be updated with the latest details regarding AUFA's negotiations and press releases.
- Privacy Type:
- Open: All content is public to the Acadia network.
Contact Info
- Email:
- Website:
- http://www.caut.ca/aufa/
- Office:
- AUFA on Strike
- Location:
- Wolfville, NS
Recent News
- News:
- Tuesday, Nov. 6:
AUFA membership ratifies contract
Today, 92% of the Acadia University Faculty Association's (AUFA) membership voted to ratify the tentative agreement reached late Sunday night with Acadia's Board of Governors.
"It's been a long, difficult process," said AUFA President Peter Williams. "This agreement shows that both sides are committed to maintaining Acadia's strong academic programs. With this dispute behind us, we can now direct our energies to finishing the semester. This renewed focus on academic excellence is great news for current and future Acadia students." If the contract is ratified by the BoG, faculty members will be back at work tomorrow (Wednesday), and classes will resume on Thursday.
Update--Monday, Nov. 5:
A tentative agreement was reached early Monday morning between both sides. Both sides plan to vote on the tentative agreement tomorrow (Tuesday).
A summary of the proposed agreement can be found here:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/pdfs/Summary12th.pdf
The entire proposed 12th collective agreement can be found here:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/pdfs/12th.pdf
The back to work protocol can be found here:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/pdfs/BackToWorkProtocol.pdf
I will send an update out tomorrow (Tuesday) with the results of AUFA's vote, as well as any information regarding the BoG vote and details regarding the planned meeting of Senate (which will finalize arrangements regarding the completion of this academic term). Any confirmed details about resuming classes (pending a successful ratification vote from both sides) will also be posted here.
November 2, 2007: Once again, both sides are under a media blackout. Immediately upon being appointed, the mediator told both sides that he wanted all media inquiries to be directed to him. When the two sides met with the mediator yesterday afternoon, they agreed that they would not communicate their positions through the media. The value of a media blackout is that it allows negotiations to occur between the negotiating teams at the table rather than in a public forum.
Mediator FAQ:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/mediator.htm
November 1st - We are pleased to announce that the Minister of Labour has accepted AUFA's request for a mediator. Negotiations will resume at noon today (Thurs.).
AUFA Letter to Parents:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/pdfs/letterToParents.pdf
AUFA's membership is concerned with and committed to attaining employment EQUITY--EQUITY through salaries that do not privilege one group at the expense of others and that compete with national and regional averages (something that was promised to us in the last contract and not delivered upon), EQUITY via job security for our long-term CLT's, EQUITY through benefits for part-time employees, EQUITY though a dental plan and daycare that signify an institutional commitment to the human resources at Acadia University and EQUITY through contractual language that will legally protect our membership against discrimination. The bottom line here is not money, it's EQUITY, impartiality and fairness--and our membership has wholeheartedly voted to support this collective motivation rather than individually voting on a discriminatory offer that favours some members over others.
Tuesday, October 30:
Negotiations have broken down again, and, frustrated by the seeming lack of concern on the part of the Board of Governors (BoG) to resolve this strike through fair negotiation or mediation, AUFA will be asking the provincial government to step in and appoint a mediator. According to AUFA President Dr. Peter Williams: “Negotiations thus far have been moving very slowly. The Board apparently feels no sense of urgency, but we think it is time to bring someone in to help us negotiate a settlement that both sides can agree to.” Given the uncertainty and stress experienced by students, we are disturbed that the BoG refused to even try to come to an agreement on Monday. Why did the BoG not jump at the opportunity to reach a settlement more quickly?”
AUFA's negotiating team met with the BoG team for a total of 32 hours over four consecutive days (October 24 - 27). Discussions during that time did not adequately address the outstanding labour issues or offer fair proposals that would equally benefit all members of AUFA. Because AUFA realizes how hard this process has been on students already, at the meeting on Monday AUFA's team, backed by its membership, proposed that the Board consider: 1) staying in the room until we reached an agreement or 2) independent mediation; or 3) filing for provincial mediation. The BoG refused our first offer and suggested they would discus our second offer only if we went back to work. This would allow them to drag negotiations out indefinitely. Despite their attempts to avoid mediation, we informed them we would be pursuing our third offer of filing for provincial mediation. AUFA's membership continues to put the quality of education at Acadia University first, and is collectively frustrated and disgusted with the BoG's attempts to discriminate against some AUFA members and to avoid moving us closer to national and regional salary averages.
Earlier in the day on Monday, AUFA members attended a packed meeting hall in Wolfville and overwhelmingly rejected the current position and unproductive strategies of the BoG, expressing continued and strong support for the efforts of AUFA's negotiating team.
Peter Williams, president of AUFA, will be addressing AUFA members at a rally today (Tuesday, October 30th), at 11:30 a.m. at the clock park in Wolfville.
For more information,
Join AUFA’s mailing list:
--Please send an email to AUFAOnStrike@gmail.com and we will add you to the group.
Join AUFA’s Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/aufa-information-group/
Check out AUFA's negotiations website:
http://www.caut.ca/aufa/negotiations/index.htm
Take a look at John Eustace's strike blog:
http://aufastrike2007.wordpress.com/