Volume 32, No. 1	Editor: Bob Rupert	December 13, 2001.



	CUASA Honours Loyal and Dedicated Service



On January 1, 2001, Alistair Tilson who served as CUASA's Grievance Chair

for 16 and a half years retired from the University.  In spite of his

retirement, Alistair continued to serve on the CUASA Bargaining Team for

the negotiations concluded in October.  CUASA wishes to ensure that his

dedication to his colleagues does not go unremarked.  Hence, this

Communiqui is devoted to Alistair's contribution.



Text of remarks delivered by Patricia A. Finn, LL.M., Executive Director

of CUASA to the FASS Reception honouring retiring faculty and staff (May

16, 2001).



"I am currently in my 34th year of working at Carleton.  On July 1, 2001,

I will have completed 25 years working for CUASA.  For much of that time I

have worked with Alistair Tilson.  Alistair became a Council

representative from English the year CUASA became a certified union -

1975.  He continued to serve on Council until 1978.  In 1977 he was

elected Grievance Chair of CUASA and served a one year term.  That same

year, he served on the CUASA negotiating team, a round of bargaining that

took 9 months.  Then Alistair took some time off, returning in 1981 as

President-Elect of CUASA.  In 1985, he returned to the position of CUASA

Grievance Chair and remained in that position continuously until his

retirement this past January 1st.  Having missed 5 rounds of collective

bargaining, Alistair joined the bargaining team in 1988 and has been on

the team for that and every subsequent round of bargaining (5 rounds)

including the one going on now.



Alistair oversaw some important innovations during this lengthy period of

service.  He was responsible for seeking and getting agreement that the

Grievance Chair of CUASA be permitted to attend the University Promotion

Committee meetings as an observer.  The current "Guidelines for Promotion"

endorsed by the employer are taken directly from Alistair's notes of the

first set of meetings he attended.



Much of Alistair's contribution to the health of the organization is not

readily apparent to the casual observer.  Alistair provided sage

counseling for those without any grievance who needed advice on their

promotion or tenure application.  His patience with aggrieved individuals

is legendary. He was willing to spend countless hours talking people down,

reassuring them, helping them compose letters, etc.  His quick ability to

winkle out the makings of a settlement are nothing short of amazing. 

Thousands and thousands of dollars were not spent on costly arbitrations

at Carleton (unlike many other institutions) simply because Alistair was

so proficient at developing a level of trust between management and CUASA

allowing both sides the space to engage in creative problem solving.  As

one of the two CUASA trustees of the CAUT Defence Fund, Alistair has

engaged in many flying pickets at sister institutions across the country

as well as overseeing the growth and disbursement of the fund.  Alistair

has also served on boards of arbitration for grievances at other universities.



On a personal level, Alistair was easy to work with, respectful and

collegial.  We made a good team and I will miss him.  While the antics of

Alistair and Bill Jones and their affinity for one another preferably

mixed with alcohol shall remain an untold story, Bill said it best. At a

university function after he became Dean, Bill, in my presence, told

members of management how he felt about the CUASA bargaining team.  He

said that it "was like magic, you could throw a ball up in the air and not

worry, someone would catch it and run with it - it was the greatest".  



While Alistair "was that good in his heart", he was "daily expecting a

considerable emolument" which arrived and allowed him to retire.  On

behalf of all the members who have benefitted from Alistair's efforts

without being aware of them, those with more direct experience of his work

on their behalf, CUASA Council, Steering Committee and the staff of CUASA,

we all wish you well in your new life as a 'village squire'."





Hi Pat,

	I wanted to thank you, again, for the most heartfelt comments re: 

Alistair, and the brief reminiscence of Bill Jones. My eyes, too, swelled.

 Most of all, Pat, I want to thank for a much-needed, kick-in-pants

reminder that there are many, many good people at Carleton, who comprise

the university's heart and soul, and seldom receive the kudos earned and

deserved. They, too, are heros. Thank you!	George Pollard





Management's take on Alistair



Carleton University is notable amongst Ontario Universities for the

maturity of the relationship between its academic staff association and

its management. We have developed the ability, for the most part, to

pursue common interests cooperatively, to tackle divergent interests

intelligently and with integrity, and to tell the difference. In his long

years of service on the CUASA executive, on bargaining teams and most

notably as the CUASA Grievance Chair, Alistair's contribution to the

development of this relationship has been invaluable. His wit,

persuasiveness, and sometimes idiosyncratic but always effective approach

to problem solving were put to very good use in the service of the CUASA

membership. And because he was also guided by a genuine affection for

Carleton, his efforts also served the University well.

	David Van Dine, Assistant Director of Human Resources (Academic

Staff Relations)





CUASA's legal counsel comments

 

Many of us at Sack Goldblatt Mitchell have been involved with CUASA since

1973 when (under the leadership of Jill Vickers) CUASA was the first

Faculty Association in Ontario to gain bargaining rights for university

faculty. It could not have been foreseen that, in doing this, CUASA

started a movement that spread rapidly across Ontario. Today, almost all

faculty across Canada are protected by agreements that give legal force to

tenure and academic freedom. Alistair was a major influence in CUASA's

early days, and has been a bulwark of faculty rights ever since.  



Alistair has provided guidance, not just to CUASA, but also to the lawyers

in our firm whose introduction to the unique world of university law has

derived from our representation of CUASA.  Alistair has always seemed to

be there, the person whom we advised and, more often than not, the person

from whom we sought advice. In this regard, Alistair's quiet-spoken manner

was quite deceptive; in fact, he was usually firm in his views, which

stemmed from a strong sense of what was principled and fair. We soon

learned to listen carefully to what Alistair had to say.



Alistair was always prepared to champion what we would have considered the

most hopeless cases. Indeed, more often than not, it was the championing

of the cause by Alistair that carried the day and turned losing cases into

winning cases.  Faculty representatives such as Alistair do wonders for

the reputations of law firms. We know that Alistair's colleagues will miss

his wisdom and kindness. Like them, we will also miss his gentle manner,

his impish sense of humour, his keen understanding of human nature, and

his concern and compassion for others.



We wish Alistair the very best,



Jeffrey Sack and Jim McDonald

Sack, Goldblatt, Mitchell