Collective Bargaining & Economic Benefits Committee Terms of Reference

1 Status and Role

(a) The Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits Committee shall be a Standing Committee of Council.

(b) The Committee shall make recommendations to Council on policy measures relating to collective bargaining and economic benefits.

(c) The Committee shall promote cooperation and mutual support among local associations for the successful negotiation and defence of terms and conditions of employment which enhance the well-being of the professions represented in CAUT.

2 Composition

(a) The Committee shall be composed of at least eight members (including the Person Chairing). All members shall have demonstrated experience in the area of Collective Bargaining and/or analysis of Economic Benefits.

(b) Members shall normally serve for three year terms, with the possibility of one renewal. The terms of the members shall overlap in such a way that approximately one-third of the membership changes annually. If the normal term needs to be altered in order to ensure the continuation of this changeover pattern, the Committee shall make suitable recommendations to Council at its Spring meeting.

(c) The term of the Person Chairing the Committee shall normally be for two years.

(d) The President shall be an ex-officio member of the Committee. The Executive Director shall be a non-voting member of the Committee. The Executive Director shall designate staff to provide support to the Committee.

(e) In addition, the Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d'université may send a representative with the rights as provided for in the CAUT/FQPPU Accord.

3 Functions

(a) To advise the CAUT Executive Committee, Council, and other Standing Committees concerning policies of CAUT in the area of salaries, pensions, taxation, insured benefits, and other forms of compensation.

(b) To advise the CAUT Executive Committee, Council, and other Standing Committees concerning policies and model contract language in the area of Collective Bargaining.

(c) To assist professional staff in the organization of conferences and workshops relating to Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits.

4 Selection of committee members

(a) Vacancies on the Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits Committee shall be advertised in the CAUT Bulletin and by direct mailing to local and provincial associations/unions by November 30. The President, Vice-President, Past-President and Executive Director will follow-up the direct mailing with member associations to gather as complete a list of potential committee members as possible.

(b) The President, Vice-President, Past-President and Executive Director will review the entire list of potential committee members and will recommend potential members to the Executive so that the Committee will have the requisite expertise required to fulfill its functions (See Article 3) and will reflect the diversity of CAUT in so far as possible along geographic, size of institution, linguistic, disciplinary, gender and equity lines. The rationale for the selection of each member will be presented to the Executive along with the names. The final list approved by the Executive will be approached to serve and will be advised that their selection will be dependent on the ratification of the CAUT Council. When someone declines, the Executive will be asked to name a replacement who will then be approached.

(c) The final list of committee members will be presented to the Spring Council for ratification. Should Council refuse to ratify one or more candidates, the matter will be referred back to the Executive who will bring a revised list to the same Council meeting.

(d) When a casual vacancy occurs on the Committee, the Executive will select a replacement after consultation with member associations and recommend the replacement for ratification at the next meeting of Council. The replacement will serve the remainder of the vacant term.

5 Nomination and election procedures for a person to chair

(a) The person to chair the Committee shall normally have served at least one year on the Committee. The Chair shall serve for the term indicated in section 2(c).

(b) The Chair of the Committee shall be elected by CAUT Council. The deadline for nomination shall be March 1 of the year that the incumbent's term expires. Any vacancy, howsoever occurring in the position of Chair, shall be filled by Council electing a successor. Any person, so elected, shall hold office for the balance of the term of the office involved.

(c) The election of a person to chair shall be conducted prior to the Council's ratification of the members of the Committee.

(d) When a casual vacancy in the position of Person Chairing occurs, the meeting shall be convened by the President. The first item of business shall be the election of an interim person to chair from among the members present, and the President shall chair the meeting for this item only.

6 Mode of Operation

(a) The Committee shall normally meet two times a year. There shall be provision for additional meetings by telephone conference call or in person, as the need determines.

(b) The Committee may at its discretion delegate special tasks to its Chair. The Committee may also delegate to individual members the responsibility to form ad hoc sub-committees of volunteers, who shall report back to the Collective Bargaining and Economic Benefits Committee for ratification of any policies or reports produced, before they are put before the Council or otherwise disseminated.

(c) A quorum for meetings of the Committee is 50% of the voting members.

(d) The Committee shall be conscious of and sensitive to the issues of conflict of interest and apprehension of bias. A Committee member who perceives an issue of possible conflict of interest or apprehension of bias of their own, or on the part of another member, whether it arises from personal involvement or through the involvement of the member's local or provincial association, shall raise it. The matter shall be discussed and then resolved by the remaining members of the Committee who may direct the member to absent himself/herself, impose specified limitation on the member's involvement, or conclude that no action needs to be taken.

7 Reporting

(a) The Committee shall report regularly to the Executive and to Council through its Chair.

(b) The Committee shall prepare a written report for presentation at the Spring Meeting of the Council.

8 Status of Academic Administrators on CAUT Standing Committees

Whenever a member of a Standing Committee accepts an appointment (whether temporary or continuing) to a senior administrative position (for example, President, Vice-President, Counsel or Advisor to the President, Dean, Associate Dean, Assistant Dean) or, in the case of a faculty association which has entered into a collective agreement, to any administrative position which excludes its occupant from membership in the bargaining unit, the member shall notify the Elections and Resolutions Committee. After consulting with the member's faculty association and the Standing Committee to which the member belongs, the Elections and Resolutions Committee shall report to the Council which shall determine whether or not the individual shall be replaced (using the usual procedure for choosing members to Standing Committees).