On Monday, Dec. 16, 1996 the academic staff of Queen's University overwhelmingly ratified their first collective agreement with the university following a year at the bargaining table. 93 per cent voted in favour of the new agreement. 477 of the 865 members of the bargaining unit (or 55 per cent) turned out for the vote. The three-year agreement covers professors, librarians and archivists, special appointees, adjuncts, and some coaches with teaching duties. "To say the least, I'm very pleased with the results of the vote. It's a good agreement. This is a new era of cooperation between the administration and the academic staff at Queen's University," said Frank Burke, President of Queen's University Faculty Association (QUFA).
The academic staff at Queen's voted to unionize in September 1995 and certification occurred on November 7 of the same year. In addition to regular faculty, the bargaining unit included professional librarians, archivists and some but not all part-time faculty. The association served notice to bargain shortly thereafter. The faculty had become increasingly frustrated with the Board of Trustees' unilateral imposition of salaries and other terms of employment. One of the main objectives of the QUFA bargaining team was to achieve a binding and independent dispute resolution mechanism that was fair to both parties. The decision to certify came after the Board refused to agree to a satisfactory special plan outside of the Ontario Labour Relations Act.
"The people who have to be congratulated are the members of our bargaining team and strategic action committee. It was never easy on the team. Their tremendous dedication and relentless efforts are what got us this agreement. CAUT was also of great help throughout the past year. Representatives of CAUT were at the table with us during the last three crucial weeks of bargaining," added Burke.
Negotiations between association and university representatives started in late February 1996 and proceeded slowly thereafter. The early winter was taken up with non-bargaining issues such as a pension surplus and an early retirement plan offered by the university. The atmosphere at the bargaining table was, at most times, cordial and productive. Both parties dealt with a cluster of articles at a time. Progress at the bargaining table was slow but constant until a summer break in July.
Throughout negotiations, the bargaining team was in constant contact with the membership. They issued a weekly Negotiation Update to inform the membership of the progress (or lack thereof) at the bargaining table, met frequently with a group of representatives from university departments and units, and regularly sought clarification on their mandate from the QUFA Executive.
By the end of September, several minor articles had been settled -- mostly those of an administrative nature such as copies of the agreement, discipline, dues check off, and grievance and arbitration. However, substantial divergences between the parties remained over the main body of the agreement. The bargaining team was concerned that the administration representatives might have been reluctant to deal with matters of importance to the academic staff. In October, three important strategic decisions were made. The team set a deadline of Dec. 5, 1996 for completing the collective agreement. If an agreement was not reached by that date, QUFA would apply for conciliation to the Ontario Labour Relations Board. This date was selected in order that, if necessary, effective work action could be taken before the summer period. Further, a strategic action committee was formed to garner and provide support to the bargaining team, and to prepare for any work action. Finally, the membership strongly approved a motion to join the CAUT Defence Fund.
By November, negotiations intensified and the main issues of academic program/unit closure, financial exigency, compensation and dispute resolution mechanism for compensation matters were being discussed seriously. In the week prior to the deadline, the bargaining team dedicated full days and evenings to collective bargaining. A tentative settlement was reached at 3:15, on the morning of Dec. 6, 1996.
Frank Burke was pleased that salaries and standard terms of employment for academic staff were finally established and stipulated in this first contract. "What I'm especially happy with is that this first agreement strengthens the position of our smaller constituencies," he added referring to librarians, archivists, special appointees and adjuncts.
Of note in this three-year collective agreement, is the fact that the parties reached agreement on a dispute resolution mechanism -- final offer selection -- for compensation matters in the third year of the agreement. This mechanism is to further apply to the next round of bargaining, in effect avoiding a strike or lock out on compensation issues. The factors for laying-off staff under financial exigency are to be determined by a mutually agreed committee. The QUFA agreement sets out a procedure for financial exigency and provides for a series of criteria to be applied. The committee attributes points to each criterion and the affected members will be rated accordingly. The agreement also provides that the scoring scheme will be validated by experts. A comprehensive employment equity article was also negotiated.
On the compensation side, faculty scales are to remain frozen in the first year and will increase by 0.9 per cent in the second year. The career development and merit increment was increased to $1900 in the first year and to $2000 in the second and third years, from a pre-Social Contract level of $1442. The assistant professor floor was raised to $40,000 from $37,900. Compensation improvements, in line with faculty, were made for librarians, archivists and adjuncts. Of importance is the fact that their compensation schemes are now formalized in the agreement.