Report from WLUSA/OSSTF Meeting

Thank you to everyone who came out to our general meeting. There was an interesting and informative discussion about our pension plan. Thank you for all your comments and questions. Below are the slides from the presentation. If anything is not clear, please be sure to check in with the WLUSA executive so that you understand the situation.

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The impact of rising tuition fees on Ontario families

The title is borrowed from a post of the same name on the website of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. The post, the report it’s based on, and an opinion piece about the report’s conclusions are all worth reading.

Highlights include:

• Since 1990, Ontario households have endured stagnant incomes and rising levels of household debt (from 90% of disposable income 20 years ago to 150% today).
• Since 1990, tuition fees have seen a real increase of 244%.
• This fall, average undergraduate tuition fees in Ontario are the highest in the country at $6,500.

The impact of these facts is that average families must work much harder to send their children to university, and for low-income families it is even worse. Those families may have to make financial choices that do not include tuition. If the student takes on the debt-load of a post-secondary education, in some cases when they graduate they will owe a staggering $80,000.

Those of us who work with students will likely realize that this situation is not good for anyone. No matter what party you support, ask the hard questions about what they will do to reduce the burden of a higher education.

Ontario Election 2011

This fall Ontarians are facing a provincial election, and each party will try to convince you that their policies are the best. This is a decision you need to make for yourself, so we are including links below to the platforms of the four parties. When you’re reading, look for issues that are important to you personally, but also look for issues that concern you as a public sector worker, as a union member, etc. Go to the candidate debates in your riding and ask questions; call or email the candidate and make your concerns heard. And on October 6, 2011, get out there and vote. Parties are listed in alphabetical order:

Green Party of Ontario

Platform: http://itstimeforgreen.ca/

Local Candidates: Jacques Malette, Cambridge; Mark Vercouteren, Kitchener Centre; Robert Rose, Kitchener-Conestoga; J.D. McGuire, Kitchener-Waterloo

Liberal Party of Ontario

Platform:  http://www.ontarioliberal.ca/OurPlan/Platform.aspx

Local Candidates: Kathryn McGarry, Cambridge; John Milloy, Kitchener Centre; Leeanna Pendergast, Kitchener-Conestoga; Eric Davis, Kitchener-Waterloo

New Democrats Ontario

Platform: http://ontariondp.ca/wp-content/uploads/Plan-for-affordable-change.pdf

Local Candidates: Atinuke Bankole, Cambridge; Cameron Dearlove, Kitchener Centre; Mark Cairns, Kitchener-Conestoga; Isabel Cisterna, Kitchener-Waterloo

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

Platform: http://changebook.ca/

Local Candidates: Rob Leone, Cambridge; Dave MacDonald, Kitchener Centre; Michael Harris, Kitchener-Conestoga; Elizabeth Witmer, Kitchener-Waterloo

OSSTF D35 WLUSA, Collective Bargaining 2011 Update

Summer, Pensions & Research

I hope that this quick update finds you all safe and in good spirits.  This summer has proven to be a very challenging time for all our hearts and minds.

The loss of our friend Jack Layton has been hard to bear for many Canadians.   His passing has been a very reflective one for me personally, and I can speak on behalf of the entire Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC) team when I say that we offer our collective prayers and thoughts to all those who have been touched by his leadership and friendship, most specially our condolences to his family.

The Collective Bargaining Committee has been very busy working over the last few weeks finding and securing an Actuary to work on our behalf.  I am happy to report that we are now working with H. Clare Pitcher, FSA, FCIA and Cindy Rynne from Buck Consulting.

You can find information on them at their website: http://www.acsbuckcanada.com/buckconsultantsca/

We are proceeding with the evaluation of all our options around our pension plan and benefits, guided now by the professional advice of our actuarial team.

As promised, before we proceed with negotiations, we will call a meeting of the entire membership in September.

I want to continue to encourage all of the membership to email us your concerns and thoughts.   I assure you we read and consider each of them.  Your patience and understanding throughout this very challenging time is greatly appreciated.

Finally, I want to make a few comments regarding the effort and time that the OSSTF Provincial Executive has made, particularly over the past few weeks.

The end of July and the middle of August is normally a very busy time for OSSTF Provincial Leadership.  This year was no exception.   OSSTF provincial has been working extremely closely with us on negotiations while preparing for the major Annual Provincial Leadership Conference.

OSSTF Leadership 2011 was held in Toronto and was four days filled with training and workshops for bargaining unit presidents and leaders.  Topics ranged from occupational health & safety to social media to improving skills for mediation, bargaining and negotiations.

This year both Connie and I attended the OSSTF Leadership Conference and our experience leaves us confident that WLUSA is on track and in good hands with the leadership and guidance of OSSTF Provincial.

Yours in Solidarity.

Niru

Niru Philip, CBC Chair, OSSTF D35 WLUSA.

Negotiations, Week 3 Update “We Have Reached our First Pothole”

July 14, 2011

In my last bargaining update at the end of week two, I commented about “one or two items” that have arisen at the table. I will say now that one involves a change in practice from what WLUSA is previously accustomed to, and the second involves new University policies that affect you directly. These would result in drastic and potentially upsetting changes to how you will be treatedby the University.

More details and clarity will be provided on these and on all matters relating to bargaining at the bargaining update meeting on Thursday July 14th from noon
to 1 pm and in a repeat session for those who take a late lunch from 1 pm to 2 pm.  In reviewing our current round of bargaining, after completing 13 days of fruitful presentations, discussion and debate, I am happy to report that we have been successful in agreeing to ground rules, housekeeping changes and a few non-monetary items, which have all been signed off.

The discussion has been in depth and with the utmost professionalism. I am proud of our team’s efforts in this regard and can tell you that the experience and skill of both teams are matched in respect, execution, follow through and accountability.

However, it would be fair to say that we have reached our first pothole. And I’m confident that it will be no surprise when I say it involves the University managed pension plan. At this point, we appreciate the University’s patience in allowing us time to ensure that our members are informed, and the bargaining team has the necessary background information in paving the way to an agreement that is reasonable and fair and in the best interests of the University, Students and WLUSA members.

Wilfrid Laurier University is celebrating 100 years of success in “inspiring lives of leadership”. I would like to take this time to thank the 500 plus dedicated Staff members and the countless number of retired Staff who have helped and currently help to educate and care for all of our Students, Faculty and Administration.

WLU works, because we do!

Yours in Solidarity,
Niru.
Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC), Chair
OSSTF District 35 WLUSA

The federal Tories don’t like labour disputes

The Harper government’s response to postal workers trying to defend employment conditions (including their pension plan) demonstrates how the federal Tories want to handle all labour disputes. Geoffrey Stevens describes this well in a column in The Record, and points out that the way Harper’s caucus dealt with the stalemate in the Canada Post negotiations “had less to do with postal service and the wage and pension issues involved in the dispute than it did with sending a message about its ‘tough-on’ agenda.” See the whole story here. The government’s actions imply that they don’t care about the details of negotiations; it’s all about winning ideological points. For our part, we need to dispute the notion that as unionized public sector workers we are somehow privileged. Our incomes have stayed pretty close to the rate of inflation. Our only “privilege” is that as part of a union we’re in a better position to defend ourselves from erosion of the conditions we’ve worked hard to achieve.

Inflation rate fails to obey wage freeze guidelines

The average rate of inflation for Canada as a whole during 2010 was 1.8 per cent. But by December Ontario’s rate reached 3.3 per cent. On 30 June, The Record reported that the Canadian rate had gone to 3.7 per cent in May of this year. (See article here) And yet employers and the Ontario government expect workers to co-operate with their request for no wage increases this year. Presumably senior management will set the example by announcing no increases for their own compensations (including, one would assume, skipping bonuses). Given that the average increases for the top dozen administrators on campus have averaged about 5.5 per cent over the last seven years, perhaps they’ve saved up enough to weather the storm.

Austerity for whom?

If Charles Dickens were alive today, he’d probably be aghast that Ebenezer Scrooge has become a role model to finance ministers around the world. In a recent opinion column that appeared in The Record and elsewhere, Tom Walkom looks at the austerity plan being imposed on Greece by European banks (through their proxy, the EU) and points out that once again workers will tighten their belts while the bankers get bailed out. “Pensions have been scaled back and public sector jobs axed…. Higher unemployment means even less tax revenue for the country’s government and thus even less capacity to repay its $468 billion debt.”

The full story here: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1016957–walkom-workers-the-scapegoats-in-greece-s-debt-crisis?bn=1

OSSTF/D35 WLUSA, Collective Bargaining 2011 Update

End of week two (June 27-30)

This week we had one or two items that did manage to surprise our team; more details on this next week. Nevertheless, this week has been an extension of last week. We have built on and have had various discussions around each of our proposals.

Our package of articles, in our opinion, form in this round a core of our most important concerns, and need to be addressed in a collective fashion. I am happy to report that debate on these items have been healthy and productive. There are no surprises here: internal job postings, hiring procedure, priority placement, displacement, and, most importantly, seniority rights; all core priorities for you, our principals.

This week was also the starting point for two articles that are monetary and certainly a top priority for you. As we prepared for this round of bargaining, your guidance and input, as always, established for us our priorities and helped us formulate our position on these crucial benefits. I’d like to quote from our staff survey conducted in December 2010:

“Pension should be maintained as is, not creating a two tier system. The best solution would be for Universities to be exempt from the pension rule.”

“In good economic times the staff and the university enjoyed pension holidays. Why is the University asking its staff to bear the entire burden of this temporary shortfall in this economic downcurve?”

“I am not an expert on pensions but I know that I will need a stable income when I retire. I can barely afford to make ends meet today, my current benefits help my family cope with all our medical needs, these benefits will be even more important for me when I retire. Please protect my benefits and my pension.”

These selected comments from our OSSTF D35 WLUSA staff survey, articulate a common theme expressed by a majority of members who have in effect helped us formulate our position on our pensions and our benefits.

The University has not surprised us and has stuck to its position on pensions as articulated to us in their various postings online and via e-mail to staff. So you will not be surprised when I tell you that their offer is a two-tier system with reductions to retiree benefits and a defined contribution model for all new hires.

As we celebrate Canada Day and enjoy this wonderful long weekend with family and friends. I ask you all to consider these facts. We all live in a wonderful, peaceful, caring nation called Canada. This affords each and every one of us freedom of speech and the right to choose our own path in life. We are fortunate to live in the province of Ontario, which is one of the most progressive and modern in its application of labour rights. We are privileged to be working for an employer that has since 1995 afforded us the right to bargain collectively. We need to take time now to reflect on these benefits and rights that we all enjoy and pause to give thanks to those that came before us, those who had the wisdom to be progressive and fair so that future generations may have safe working conditions and fair compensation.

It is no secret that I consider Laurier my home and all of you my family. This is a fact for me — it will never change. In the time we spend working with colleagues we get to know each other very well. Many of us spend more of our waking hours at work than with our own families. This sense of community and caring is central to our working rights and conditions.

So I ask you as friends to reflect deeply on the progressive nature of Canada and our labour rights in the province of Ontario and in the caring sense of community and family we cherish at Laurier.

Yours in Solidarity,

Niru
Collective Bargaining Committee (CBC) Chair
OSSTF D35 WLUSA

OSSTF D35 WLUSA, Collective Bargaining 2011 Update

OSSTF D35 WLUSA, Collective Bargaining 2011 Update
End of week 1 (June 20th – 23rd)

As promised I will endeavour to keep you updated as we progress at the bargaining table. We wish to thank you, “our principals,” for giving us the mandate to bargain on your behalf. We proceed with your continued support and guidance. Please continue to communicate to us via email and know that your messages of support and encouragement have been heard and are appreciated.

This week we generated good momentum, signing documents on ground rules for this round of bargaining and signing off on various housekeeping issues. We are currently focusing our discussion and presentations on the non-monetary items and will look to focus on the grouping of issues and their related articles.

The Faculty of Social Work, our home from Monday to Thursday, has been fabulous. All the staff and faculty at the Kitchener Campus have been very helpful, supportive and welcoming. Both the University and WLUSA have booked and set aside 4 days a week until the end of July to focus on bargaining.

Those of you who were not able to make our Negotiations Brief update on Monday June 20th would have missed the introduction of Paul Elliott to our team. Paul is Vice President of OSSTF and is a seasoned negotiator. He recently worked with our colleagues at Algoma University to help them bargain their collective agreement. Paul is the chair of the OSSTF committee on pensions; he brings perspective on issues that are relevant to our discussions on pensions at Laurier. Starting July 2011, he is our assigned provincial executive representative.

Please keep checking for updates about our current round of bargaining. The CPAC team will provide information on our website, www.WLUSA.ca, the WLUSA facebook page (WLUSA/OSSTF), the WLUSA BLOG and the WLUSA twitter account (WLUSA_OSSTF).

Yours in Solidarity,
Niru, CBC Chair, OSSTF D35 WLUSA.