University of Lethbridge faculty and a grad student picket downtown Wednesday as ULFA strike action continues. The association walked off the job last Thursday at 11 a.m.--Herald photo Al Beeber
A silent negotiator is having an impact on contract discussions between the University of Lethbridge and its striking faculty association, says the Alberta Union of Public Employees.
The university faculty association walked off the job last Thursday at 11 a.m. and were subsequently locked out of university workplaces on Friday at the same time.
Bobby-Joe Borodey, AUPE executive vice-president, said in a phone interview Tuesday provincial government negotiating mandates are playing a role in the impasse between the two sides.
She said striking faculty at the privately-run Concordia University in Edmonton recently returned to work after being off for two weeks and the strikes there and here are setting precedents for the other 16 post-secondary educational institutions in Alberta.
Borodey said faculty should be able to sit at the bargaining table and negotiate fairly with the U of L but that isn’t possible because the Alberta government has established directives around which U of L negotiators have to bargain.
In a statement released Tuesday, the ULFA said it presented a new offer to the U of L board of governors Saturday night for the purpose of restarting talks. That offer, the ULFA said, builds on the BoG’s offer “as a basis for looking at salary structures and increases and instead focuses on terms and conditions.” The ULFA said the BoG indicated it isn’t prepared to discuss the offer but is willing to look at it.
Borodey said from Red Deer “it’s just disgusting and entirely disrespectful to the folks they are currently bargaining with,” referring to the U of L.
“What worries us is that this is only the start of what we will see happen going forward with all the post-secondary educations. And of course because AUPE currently has 10,000 folks within post-secondary, we’re going to see this trickle down to our members, as well,” Borodey said.
While the sides haven’t reached agreement on salaries and other issues being disputed, the government’s role in negotiations is concerning, she said.
“One of the bigger issues of course that keeps popping up is the fact there is a silent bargaining member on the team, which in this case, of course, is the government.
“When we go into bargaining, we bargain with the employer and for the folks at Lethbridge or any other institution, the institution is their employer,” she added. “You would think you would be able to sit at the table across from your employer and bargain fairly and appropriately and go through that process.
But, she said, the government has what it calls post-secondary education bargain mandates, “and so this is a directive that is sent to all the post-secondary educations indicating the parameters around which they are able to bargain.”
The easiest parameter to address is monetary, she said, but schools can’t bargain outside the parameters government has established.
“So it really just makes our ability to bargain fairly with the employer impossible when you have this silent entity, the government, sitting at the table telling the employer what they can and cannot do,” Borodey added.
“It really makes the bargaining process almost impossible so that’s why we’re concerned that what happened at Concordia and what’s happening at Lethbridge is only the start and that we will see this need to take this type of action in all of our post-secondary education bargaining tables, whether that’s with faculty or another group that happens to be at the table, as well,” Borodey added.
By mid-day Tuesday, the university had not provided any updates about negotiations on its bargaining page.
Borodey said the AUPE represents support staff in those 16 post-secondary educational institutions in Alberta and no one part operates in a bubble.
“We do see ourselves as one big team and when we see the employer doing what they’re doing to a part of that team, our natural instinct is to step up and fight alongside those folks.”
In Tuesday’s statement, the ULFA chief bargainer Locke Spencer said “we think that the time has passed for posturing. It’s time to get back to the table and focus on achieving a settlement.”
