Dear Contract Instructors,

As you may know, Unit 2 is currently bargaining for a new collective agreement. Your bargaining team has met with the employer five times since September and have made some meaningful progress on member priorities, but most proposals on the table remain unresolved. We have been hampered by the employer’s bargaining team’s general lack of availability, changes in senior personnel at Labour Relations, and a complete lack of engagement on any of our monetary proposals for over two months. Troublingly, the employer has also proposed substantive rollbacks on Academic Freedom. On the upside, we have successfully pushed back on the employer’s proposal to eliminate incumbency protections.

To deal with the current impasse at the table, your bargaining team will participate in a day-long mediation on November 25th with the conciliator appointed to us by the Ministry of Labour. Conciliation is a normal part of bargaining, and we are hopeful that the conciliator will help move the process along so that we can efficiently come to an agreement with the employer that meets our members’ needs.

To help support your bargaining team secure a good deal, we urge you to vote “yes” in our upcoming online strike vote (November 24th-30th). A yes vote will give your bargaining team leverage in negotiations by showing the strength of our position, that our proposals represent the will of our membership, and that we are prepared to strike if necessary.

For instructions on how to vote and general information about what a strike vote means, please visit cupe4600.ca/strike-vote.

In solidarity,

Ryan Conrad, Lead Negotiator Unit 2
Contract Instructor, FIST & IIS
On behalf of the Unit 2 Bargaining Team

Note: Unit 1 colleagues are also in bargaining. For updates on Unit 1 please check the website or email us at info@cupe4600.ca.