Negotiations News

CAAT-A Negotiations Updates & Information Bulletins -
from your negotiations team and from Local 560

Members can send questions or comments about negotiations to the bargaining team at: caata@opseu.org

Colleges refuse to sign the Collective Agreement as presented in the contract offer for the February 10 vote (April 29, 2010)

Final count affirms acceptance of College offer (Feb 24, 2010)

Results still uncertain

College faculty vote results too close to determine

Moderncolleges.ca is launched! a website to promote public awareness on issues surrounding quality education in our college system. Aimed at students, parents, and the public, visitors can learn more about the challenges facing Ontario's colleges and send a message to college presidents supporting efforts to modernize and enhance quality education for students.

Five good reasons to reject this offer

Your questions answered... (answers to typical questions about a possible strike, binding arbitration, the implications of accepting or rejecting the offer, etc...)

Feb. 9 - Video Message fromTed Montgomery

collegeprof.ca ( "One Ontario College Prof's Blog": insightful commentary on our bargaining situation)

"Union calls on Colleges to return to bargaining after a rejection vote" News Release Feb. 9, 2010

CAAT-A Collective Bargaining Issue Sheets - Review them all !

Full-time job loss..."maximized" (Current offer puts 11% of Full-Time jobs on the line)

Partial-Load: The Numbers are growing... This time, there MUST be gains!

Clarity? Or surveillance? Colleges plan more control of non-teaching periods

Workload Task Force: "The Formula works" Flexibility...not elimination

College's offer will hurt quality

"Of Salaries and Kings" One Ontario College Prof's Blog (A look a management's salaries in an informative blog on the current negotiations.)

A Letter from OPSEU Local 560 to Partial-Load Faculty

Partial-Load... What's on the table? (concrete details)

Task Force Recommendation #1: Don't increase workloads (management objects)

Technical analysis of Workload Proposals (28-page concrete, factual analysis - with 2-page opening summary, analysing the impact of changes to workload proposed in management's current offer.
" The most significant difference between the two proposals is that the Council’s version of Modified Workload Arrangements allows an override of all of Article 11.01 B 1 where as the Union proposal only overrides the first paragraph of the existing Article 11.01 B 1. See page 12 of the Collective Agreement (CA). The technical difference this makes is that under the Council proposal, the WMG or a WRA shall not consider teaching contact hours per week, attributed hours for preparation, evaluation and feedback, or complementary functions as workload factors to be considered. The Union proposal allows for flexible arrangements but at all points the workload is measured on a SWF and there are safeguards that flow from that measurement activity. The last paragraph of Article 11.01 B 1 may only be a few words, but that is all it takes to make a significant legal and operational difference.
Grievances are not allowed for workload issues arising from Modified Workload Arrangements in either proposal. I have indicated the dispute resolution mechanism in a separate column in this chart. The Union proposal does allow the Union to go to WMG/WRA, for example if the limit on the number of faculty participating is exceeded. That avoids the serious technical problem in the Management proposal: if more than 20% of faculty were somehow without a SWF, each individual would have to refer their workload to the WMG to request a SWF to sort out the mess."

Union Comments on the Actual Management Offer for Settlement (10 pages of union commentary on the non-agreed-to matters in the negotiations.)

How does management's Modified Workload Arrangement work? (offer means higher workloads and layoffs for FT and PL faculty)

What does management NOT want you to have? (offer removes limits on workload, offers nothing for Partial-Load faculty or for counsellor & librarians)

Lets see their best offer (Reject this offer and its major concessions. A better offer will follow.)

No limits on workload (The current offer does not include the safeguards limiting increases in workload that the Workload Task Force recommended.)

Binding arbitration: A solution that works (After a rejection of the contract offer and subsequent negotiations, binding arbitration can solve any outstanding issues without a strike.)

Salaries fall further behind (Accept the offer, and your salary will fall below that of High-School teachers, and your pension will suffer.)

What's in the offer specifically for Partial-Load Faculty? (NOTHING! Management is offering no job protection, no improved chances of getting full-time work, no limits on class size, etc... Proposed increases in Full-time faculty workload will also erode your job pool.)

Workload Task Force...gone: Don't let this work go to waste (Management is ignoring the WTF's key recommendations. Don't wave goodbye to this opportunity to preserve and enhance quality education in our colleges.)

Academic "un"freedom: Students deserve the best (Faculty should control course curriculum and evaluation methods. The WTF agrees. Management doesn't)

Contract Vote on Weds. Feb. 10 (Strike deadline moved to Feb. 17)

"To all members, CAAT-Academic Division" Memo to members regarding vote on College's offer last received Feb. 2, 2010

OPSEU Press Release: " OPSEU to College faculty: Vote no to employer offer" (February 2, 2010)

CAAT-A News Conference (Feb. 1, 2010 )

"OPSEU has solution to avoid province-wide College strike" (Feb. 1, 2010)

OPSEU Strike Manual: 2010 (January 31, 2010)

Faculty Strike Vote: Q & A (January 31, 2010)

Announcement - All Faculty (January 28, 2010)

"The decision to conduct a vote on an offer last received lies first and foremost with the Council."

Negotiations News # 11: Talks Continue (January 22, 2010)

"The parties have agreed to release the following statement regarding talks. Further details of content will follow in a brief newsletter. 'With the counsel of the mediator, the parties have agreed to recess negotiations to return to the table on Tuesday, January 26th.' " Ted Montgomery, for the team (January 21, 2010)

College faculty vote in favour of a strike mandate (posted January 19) See provincial results of strike vote. What will it take to reach a settlement?

Strike mandate signals time to resume serious bargaining (posted on January 14)

Letter from Paddy Musson, Chair, CAAT-A Executive (posted January 8)

Letter from OPSEU President Smokey Thomas, Chair of OPSEU Bargaining Team Ted Montgomery and CAAT-A Executive Chair Paddy Musson (posted January 7)

On Wednesday, January 13, 2010, Vote YES: Authorize a Strike Vote (posted January 7)

Bulletin to All Faculty: January 7, 2010 (posted January 7)

Vote YES on January 13

Why Vote YES? / Consequences of a NO Vote

Strikes are Not about Putting Students at Risk

Why Authorize a Strike Mandate?

Partial-Load Questions & Answers

Workload Task Force

Academic Freedom