University, union reach deal after 17-day strike
Brandon University Faculty Association ended its strike Oct. 15 after union negotiators brokered a deal with university officials.
BUFA’s 240 members began strike action and were locked out Sept. 29.
The deal, endorsed by the general union membership this month, guarantees a 9% pay increase for each member over the life of the three-year agreement, plus the normal service increment, on a salary grid whose floors and ceilings are increased in year one, and improves the university’s pension plan.
“While we would characterize the overall salary settlement as modest, we did achieve two major pension plan improvements, funded by the university, which will be phased in by the second year of the agreement,” Joe Dolecki, chief negotiator for the union, said in a statement.
Further, the union was able to extract an agreement from the university to submit its controversial Respectful Environment Policy to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission for review, as well as resolve a contentious harassment issue with the inclusion of language that ensures academic freedom for faculty in the application of any policy having disciplinary provisions brought into the workplace by the employer.
“We are particularly pleased we were able to negotiate language that protects embers from potential employer harassment in the application of workplace policies,” Dolecki noted. “We believe that this issue, which posed a real threat to the academic freedom of BUFA members, has been put to rest.”