North Bay, ON, November 3, 2009
Following seven months of negotiations, Nipissing University’s faculty voted in favour of a strike mandate. This does not necessarily mean that a strike will take place. The University remains committed to negotiating a fair and reasonable settlement. At present, they are operating business-as-usual with classes continuing.
“For the sake of our students and the sustainability of the university, it is crucial that Nipissing averts a faculty strike,” stated Lesley Lovett-Doust, president of Nipissing University. “We have updated students and staff about the faculty strike mandate. We will continue to update students and staff as we progress.”
Nipissing’s offer to faculty provides an average salary increase of 5.5 per cent per year over the next three years with an effective increase of 16.46 per cent.
“We feel this is a very fair and reasonable offer in an environment where the cost of living index has only increased by 1.8 per cent from July 2008 to July 2009,” said Craig Cooper, chief spokesperson for the administrative bargaining team and dean of the faculty of arts and science.
“We know that both sides want to reach an agreement and will continue working to that end. We welcome open dialogue and continued negotiations to avert any disruption to students and to our operations,” added Vicky Paine-Mantha, vice-president finance and administration at Nipissing.
The university has been bargaining with the collective bargaining team representing the full-time faculty (FASBU) since February 26, 2009. There have been 39 face-to-face sessions which have encompassed almost 100 hours at the bargaining table. Both negotiating teams spent many additional hours preparing their language presentations to each other. The Faculty Association filed for conciliation, but after only two hours with a conciliator, the Association elected to file a No Board Report which allows them to go on strike after November 6, 2009, or the Employer to lock-out full-time faculty members.
“We respect and appreciate the core role of faculty. They are the talented individuals who teach our students and work with them to create new knowledge through research every day. We want to continue negotiations and reach an amicable solution,” said Errol Aspevig, vice-president academic and research at Nipissing University.
As a broader public sector employer, the University must demonstrate fiscal responsibility. Therefore, they had hoped that the FASBU collective bargaining team would find their offer acceptable and present it to their membership for discussion and recommendation.
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WOW... Not happy with that increase! I hope they do go on strike! I can use the break and I would love to see the faculty actually doing some work (carrying the picket signs)! especially if it is through the dead of winter!
ReplyDeleteIs it true students will be forced to cross picket lines to attend part-time instructed classes? Is this a safe practice?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I heard from one of my profs, Ontario average salary increase in 6.5% over three years, whereas Nip faculty is being offered 5.5% over three. Still a significant difference
ReplyDeletea 16% increase means a min. of 8000 and a max of 15000... half of north bay doesnt make that in a year... I personally think its ridiculous. At least they will be able to reiburse their childrens(students) loss of tuition dollars.. oh wait ... they dont pay.. its just the rest of the students that get screwed! Please do strike so the students who pay their own tuition get screwed and have to do a year over if they lose enough time...we are only the ones that ultimately provide you with Jobs!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that the University Administration is trying to make this all about a pay raise, when the Faculty's press release shows us that there are several more pressing issues on the bargaining table. As Nipissing students, let's not buy into the Administration's attempt to paint the faculty as "greedy."
ReplyDeleteAgreed. There is a lot more to this than just a pay increase
ReplyDeleteFirst, I would like to point out that in this very blog's post dated October 29th, it was indicated that the faculty was bargaining for a 4.9% increase in the first year and a 4.2% increase in each of the two subsequent years. Do you think that the faculty would still be arguing about compensation if they had been indeed offered 5.5%? I'm no math genius but 5.5% > 4.9%.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, compensation is only one of the articles under dispute. The other articles are key to attracting and retaining faculty as well as keeping the Nipissing promise of smaller class sizes and close relationships between students and professors. I believe the misleading nature of the media release was a mistake and undermines the bargaining process. The administration claims that they have been keeping students in the loop, but they have lied about that. What else could they be lying about?
It's always about the pay. Wonder what the other staff and admin received in their contracts. I also understand that barganing is supposed to take place behind closed doors. No-one is supposed to be in the loop until these negotiations have been completed. You wouldn't know that by the NUFA updates that have been posted on their site since July. They should have shut that down day one. At the end of the day it should be all about the students. Faculty are supposed to have posted hours and a host of other responsibilities and for the most part you never see them around. Take your Phd's and try to find another job in North Bay...good luck!
ReplyDeleteIt's hard enough to get students or people without PhDs to come to North Bay. Good luck, indeed.
ReplyDeleteLets take a look at the fact the media reported this week that "on average" Nipissing faculty are soooo underpaid compared to their southern counterparts... OK.. Well lets examine that...
ReplyDelete1. Nipissing's faculty "on average" are younger and therefore not as far up their pay scales as these other institutions.
2. Nipissing's faculty has among the lowest percentage with a PHD... Therefore it makes sense that they get paid less. You can't have a non-terminal degree and expect to get paid the same as someone who has a phd and has been teaching for 20+ years!!
Maybe people should consider the possibility that the reason that Nipissing has younger professors and less with PHDs is because of the lower salaries and working conditions. It works both ways. I think people need to perhaps be a little more considerate of the faculty and realize that there is more to the situation that what has been presented in the media reports. As a student who has been at Nipissing for five years, I have seen countless professors (with PHDs and years of experience) who were among the best teachers I have ever had, who left Nipissing for schools that had better working conditions and wages to offer. This is where Nipissing students are really losing out. The administration needs to wake up and realize that they need to make competitive offers so that we can retain the best quailified teachers at Nipissing for the sake of the students' education and the future of the school.
ReplyDeletelet me guess. you are also one of the students who is protesting and crying about increases to tuition fees. If the Faculty wants more money. well, it has to come from somewhere. The Government has said they are not giving more money. so that means it has to come from tuition. Thank-you students for paying for the faculty pay increases - but don't complain about fees later!
ReplyDeleteUpdate the blog please!
ReplyDeleteMaybe NU needs more PhD's and 2 less AVP's
ReplyDelete