MAFA Negotiations Newsletter
Results of the
Vote on the Employer’s Offer
In last week’s vote on the Employer’s offer to extend the existing contracts by one year we had a strong voter turnout (111 members of the full-time and part-time bargaining units). Of those who voted, 68% voted to accept the offer.
What does this vote mean?
The basic result of this vote will be the implementation of the three proposed changes to the collective agreements on 1 July 2006. But there is much more to it than this. The significant number of members who voted against the offer is indicative of the fact that there are a number of issues that MAFA members clearly feel need to be addressed. In public meetings and in meetings of the collective bargaining subcommittees we heard from many who felt that improvements were necessary not only in salaries, but also in the contract provisions covering workload, retirement, librarian issues, appointments, and other issues.
The message in this vote is that MAFA still is looking to accomplish change, but in agreeing to the Employer’s offer it seems evident that faculty and librarians have decided to give our incoming university President, Dr. Campbell, an easier transition to his term in office.
How does MAFA go forward from here?
It would be simple for MAFA to set aside everything that we have now prepared for collective bargaining and to bring it out again a year from now to take it to the negotiating table. But the Executive does not recommend this course of action.
While the body of material that has already been prepared may form a good base for next year’s negotiations, this delay has presented us with an opportunity to re-examine our two collective agreements and to look at other articles that may need to be changed but were overlooked in our preparations this fall. It will also give MAFA time to work on strengthening the proposals that we did develop this year, to look for parallels in other collective agreements, and to prepare effective contract language for all the proposals.
MAFA’s Collective Bargaining Committee will continue this work and will be seeking input and assistance from all MAFA members.
Things to watch for:
Normally collective agreements are renegotiated every 2-4 years, a process which allows unions to maintain a degree of equality with similar unions across the country. By next spring it will be five years since MAFA negotiated its full time agreement. There will be no doubt that we will have fallen behind in areas such as benefits, retirement, and salary. Members should be alert for news about contract settlements being received elsewhere so that they will have a clearer idea of what they need to seek when negotiations begin next year.
While the MAFA members’ recent vote will provide continuity for the campus community at large, it will be up to us to ensure that the Employer remembers that we have taken a leap of faith in accepting the Employer’s proposal now, and that the Employer addresses our growing concerns a year from now.