ULFA President proud of solidarity of members during strike

He said the agreement is one that the ULFA “can be proud of.”

However, O’Donnell noted that, “it is not what we would want to see in terms of finances, I think, largely because of truly extreme meddling in the negotiating process on the part of the provincial government, but it is largely in fact, in line with other collective agreements that we have seen in the sector, which is in fact what we wanted to see 45-50 days ago.”

The new collective agreement includes a 3.25 per cent salary increase over its life, among other provisions. O’Donnell explained raises in each year would be delayed, rather than applied at the beginning of the contract year.

“We did manage to get much more significant raises for our more vulnerable groups, so an eight per cent raise for both ranks of sessionals [instructors], a 10 per cent raise to the floors [salaries] and I believe, certainly a raise to the caps for instructors and a two per cent raise for our lowest ranked members of the professoriate and librarians.”

He continued, “all of this is happening in the context, first of all, of being far below inflation, but secondly, having a government handler on the phone. Truly an unusual situation.”

O’Donnell commented that the ULFA was able to make significant gains in terms of equity, diversity and inclusion, “despite what was said on the internet about the dangers of collegial co-management.”

“In fact, our perfectly reasonable and usual request for participation on committees like budget and administrative hiring are now in the agreement.”

He did voice disappointment on how long the process lasted though, noting that, “once we started talking it took four days to wrap up.”

“That’s quite different from what we’ve seen at other strikes across the country.”

UNION BUSTING

O’Donnell said, “what we’ve seen over the last five weeks was a failed attempt at union busting.”

“I’ve been told by unions across the country that this strike has been helpful to them. I’ve been told by unions in Alberta that this strike was helpful because it served a warning message to boards of governors at other universities – do not go down that route. I’ve also been told by university unions across the country [that] it has served as a national warning – do not attempt to destroy your university in order to break a union.”

He referred to the actions of the U of L’s Board of Governors as “an absolute disgrace”.

“They negotiated, finally, in the sixth week and we solved this in four days. I think, as you can hear, I think it’s an absolutely disgrace that this university went through that long of a work stoppage for something we were able to wrap up in four days.”

Students at the U of L are set to return to class on Wednesday, March 23. That could be varied for specific classes, however, the ULFA said it is not aware, as of Tuesday morning, what the remainder of the school term will look like.

The association said administration has tentative plans that will be brought forward to an emergency meeting of the General Faculties Council (GFC). The GFC has authority over academic decisions.

Lethbridge News Now reached out to the University of Lethbridge for comment.

The U of L issued the following statement.

“Our immediate focus is ensuring students are supported, and can successfully complete the academic semester, which resumes tomorrow.

We appreciate the last several weeks have been challenging, and thank everyone in the university community for their patience and understanding.

We understand relationships with faculty members were strained during the strike, and are committed to mending them over time.

Our new collective agreement with ULFA is an important first step. It offers fair and reasonable raises and benefits to our colleagues, while ensuring access to high-quality education and protecting the university’s long-term sustainability.

The university’s future is bright and we look forward to the opportunities ahead.”

The bargaining page at the University of Lethbridge’s website will continue to be updated as decisions are made with respect to how the rest of the academic year will look.

by Justin Goulet

ULFA President proud of solidarity of members during strike

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