A new three-year collective agreement ratified in February at Trent University brings no immediate salary gain for bargaining unit members. The salary scales for faculty and librarians were revised Feb. 1, 1999, and will now be adjusted each year of the contract according to a disparity correction and parity maintenance formula.

Using data from an Ontario universities comparison group future salaries will be adjusted as follows: on June 30 each contract year an across-the-board scale adjustment equal to the disparity between average salaries at Trent and average salaries in the Ontario system based on Statistics Canada data for faculty salaries for the immediately preceding academic year; on June 30 each contract year an across-the-board scale adjustment for parity maintenance equal to the system average base salary adjustment for that contract year. Contract language includes amendments regarding salary parity to define the salary adjustments, the methods for calculating components of salary adjustments and the implementation of a dispute resolution mechanism.

Other provisions include: externally-funded, noncompetitive academic appointees to be members of the bargaining unit; research leave, based on banked course releases; annual flexible benefits plan credit increased to $200 effective July 1, 2000; annual vision care benefit of $200 effective July 1, 2000; and annual professional expense fund of $800.