The Communiqué – Volume 46, No. 3 – Oct. 6, 2023
In this Issue:
- CUASA Office Closure: Thanksgiving
- Meet Your New Officers: Wasiu Raji, Chair, Nominations and Elections
- Know Your Rights – Sick Leave
- Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA
- CUASA Disability Caucus and CUASA 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Caucus Upcoming Meetings
- Action Required: Invoking of Notwithstanding Clause in Saskatchewan
- Academic Community Updates
CUASA Office Closure: Thanksgiving
The virtual CUASA Office will be closed this Monday, October 9, for Thanksgiving. The office will reopen on Tuesday, October 10, at 9:00am.
If you need to reach us, please send us an email to [email protected] or call 613-698-5607, and a member of our team will get back to you as soon as possible after the office reopens on Tuesday.
Meet Your New Officers: Wasiu Raji, Chair, Nominations and Elections
Since the summer, we have been introducing the new members of CUASA’s Steering Committee, who started their mandate on July 1st. In this update, we’d like to introduce Wasiu, who will be the Chair, Nominations and Elections.
Photo credit: Wasiu Raji
Wasiu Raji (He/him) is a geophysicist in Carleton’s Department of Earth Science. My research focuses on the application of geophysics to exploration, environmental, and engineering problems with a broad range of topics that include engineering infrastructures such as dams, tunnels, and roads; hydrocarbon and mineral exploration; groundwater exploration and development, pollution investigation, control, and remediation; geo-forensic; and machine learning applications in geoscience. I had teaching and research experience in Nigeria, Europe, and the United States before joining Carleton.
I have served in different capacities/committees of the Academic Staff Union in some of the universities I previously worked. I was the Vice-Chairperson of the Academic Staff Union of Universities at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria before joining Carleton. I picked interest in CUASA when I read an email asking for nominees to represent my Unit – Earth Science, I submitted a nomination form signed by two nominators and was elected into council. That provided me with some insight into the activities of CUASA. I later joined the equity Committee and worked there for some months before I was nominated and elected as the Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee of CUASA in September 2023.
I am aware of the responsibility of the office and will keep up with the tasks. I will encourage colleagues in different faculties and units to participate actively in CUASA activities and meetings, and approach persons from all divides and interest groups to volunteer in CUASA leadership roles. I will ensure CUASA is adequately represented in all committees.
Know Your Rights – Sick Leave
Our Know Your Rights segments highlight different aspects that impact your employment at Carleton University, including highlights from the Collective Agreement in small, easy to understand bits.
A common question we get at CUASA is what to do if you’re sick. It’s important to note that if you are legitimately absent from your duties due to illness, you are still entitled to full salary and all other benefits for the duration listed below. To demystify the process, we’ll take the language present in the Collective Agreement (Article 19.5 on page 119) and arrange it in a timetable below:
- As soon as possible: Upon realizing that you’re sick, you should notify your Dean or the University Librarian (whichever is applicable) of your absence and its estimated duration. It is the employer’s responsibility to find someone to cover your responsibilities in the case of illness. Insofar as reasonable, other employees shall assume the workload of persons on sick leave to ensure that scheduled academic activities need not be cancelled. If a colleague in your unit has gone on sick leave and you find that it’s creating an unreasonable workload, we encourage you to reach out to us at CUASA so we can help find a fair and equitable solution.
- Five days or more: The employer is entitled to request a medical certificate indicating that you are unable to fulfill your duties for five days or more.
- Three months or more: The employer may, at its discretion, require you to be examined by a medical practitioner of your choice for the purpose of evaluating your ability to return to work. Such examination may only be requested after the employee indicates that they intend to return to work.
- 180 days (roughly 6 months) or until benefits under the Group Long-Term Disability Plan come into effect, whichever is shorter: This is the sick leave duration limit. Anything that exceeds this limit would cease to be considered “sick leave” and would instead fall under long-term disability. If there is a possibility that your sick leave will expand past this 180-day mark, it is best to complete the documentation required for Long-Term Disability before the expiry of sick leave under Article 19.5 to avoid a gap in your salary.
Note that there are some discrepancies between the Sick Leave Policy listed on the Carleton Human Resources website and the CUASA Collective Agreement. As stated on the HR website “Collective Agreements between the certified bargaining agents and the University take precedence over the contents of these policies.” In other words, when in doubt, refer to the Collective Agreement first. As always, feel free to contact CUASA at [email protected] with any questions or concerns.
Get involved: Volunteer with CUASA
If you’d like to contribute to CUASA’s work, here are some ways you can help:
… join CUASA’s leadership with a role on the Steering Committee
The Steering Committee helps to set direction for the union, and administers Association policies. This committee meets once a month during the academic year, and roles on Steering typically include teaching releases in exchange for your service. We’re still looking for volunteers to serve as CUASA’s Vice Presidentand Professional Librarian Representative.
… serve as a member of Anti-Racism Working Group
This Working Group is open to any CUASA member interested in addressing the issue of racism at Carleton. It usually meets once a month during the academic year.
… volunteer as a member of CUASA’s Investigatory Council
This Council works to address allegations of harassment between members. All members are trained on how to process complaints, investigate complaints, maintain confidentiality, and ensure procedural fairness during the investigatory and appeals processes. The Council meets as needed.
… join the new Mobilization Committee
This new Committee, approved by Council in May, is responsible for member mobilization and possible strike preparation as CUASA enters negotiations for a new collective agreement next spring 2024. The committee will likely meet once a month during the upcoming academic year.
For more information, or to volunteer for any of these positions, please contact the CUASA’s Chair, Nominations and Elections, Wasiu Raji, at [email protected].
Disability Caucus and 2SLGBTQIA+ Pride Caucus Upcoming Meetings
Over the last year members have expressed interest in forming various caucus groups at CUASA. So far, we have had requests for a 2SLBGTQIA+ Pride Caucus and a Disability Caucus. If you are interested in participating in either caucus group, please contact Equity Officer Max López at [email protected] for more details. These caucus groups are intended to be a way for people from equity-seeking groups to find community connections, socialize, organize, support one another, and share ideas with each other and with CUASA. These groups typically meet once or twice a term, with the potential to meet more frequently if the members would prefer.
Action Required: Invoking of Notwithstanding Clause in Saskatchewan
Please see below a message from the Ontario Federation of Labour (of which CUASA is a member) regarding an urgent protest action to protect the rights of trans children in schools. Anyone in Saskatchewan on October 10th is encouraged to attend the protest at the Legislative Assembly in Regina at noon. For more information:
Greetings,
As you are likely aware, on September 29, an injunction was granted temporarily blocking legislation in Saskatchewan that would require teachers to disclose to parents if students were using different pronouns. In response to the injunction, Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is reopening the legislature on October 10 to invoke the notwithstanding clause in order to push the legislation through anyway. This is a matter of the utmost importance to all unions and families across the country.
The Saskatchewan government intends to use this constitutional tool to enshrine its anti-human rights policy even though it runs counter to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We may see similar moves by provincial governments across the country in the coming weeks. Despite being presented under the guise of “protecting children”, we all know this is a tactic to turn people against marginalized people, in this case the Trans community. We have already heard rumours of similar legislative action here in Ontario. This is the thin edge of the wedge. A tactic to find our weak spot. If they get away with this, who knows what they will come after next?
The ease at which the government is invoking the notwithstanding clause is a threat to all unions. Recently, the Ford government threatened it against striking education workers in Ontario. Whose rights will be next? The entire system of protections for human rights, including labour rights, like the right to assembly and the right to protest, are at risk.
When they attack one of us, they come for all of us! All equity-seeking groups are at risk. All unions are at risk. All workers and families are at risk. We must push back as a collective of union, worker, and community power. The future of our rights and freedoms depends on it.
CLC President Bea Bruske has made an appeal to the Canadian Council for affiliates to support the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour’s planned protest at the Legislature the same day, October 10 at 12:00 p.m. (noon). Click here to find details of the event. We are encouraging affiliates to send as many representatives as possible to attend the rally and provide what support you can to show that the labour movement across Canada will be standing in solidarity against these attacks.
Please advise OFL Executive Director Rob Halpin via email at [email protected] if your affiliate is intending to participate in the rally. We will share this information with those attending.
If you have any further questions on this matter, please do not hesitate to reach out to Rob or myself.
In solidarity,
PATTY COATES
President
C: Rob Halpin, [email protected]
Academic Community Updates
Western University’s sudden merger announcement alarms Ontario faculty
Ontario faculty are deeply concerned about recent and sudden news that Western University will close Brescia University College and merge the institution under Western’s umbrella.
This decision was made without consultation with the Brescia Faculty Association (BFA) or the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA)—in violation of collegial governance procedures and without regard for existing collective bargaining provisions at either university. The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) and its 30 member organizations, including CUASA, are alarmed by this opaque and rushed procedure, and its implications for the rights of faculty at Western, Brescia, and universities across Ontario.
CAUT has also criticized this controversial plan. In a letter issued to the presidents of Brescia and Western, the CAUT said it is unacceptable that a merger agreement that shifts programs and reassigns staff was negotiated without the faculty associations.
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) critical of planned merger of Brescia and Western
CAUT September Advocate
Every month CAUT issues a newsletter with the latest CAUT and post-secondary education sector news. In the September issue:
- CAUT ramps up advocacy efforts as legislators return to Parliament Hill
- CAUT Bulletin celebrates its 70th birthday
- Brescia and Western academic staff associations condemn planned merger
- Saint-Boniface academic staff ratify new collective agreement
- Support Northern Ontario School of Medicine academic staff
- Western University librarians and archivists unanimously support strike
- University of Toronto academic staff awarded 7% salary increase
Fair Employment Week: October 16 to 20, 2023
Fair Employment Week (FEW) is taking place from October 16 to 20, 2023.
FEW is CAUT’s annual event designed to raise awareness about precarious employment on campus and to support your local association’s organizing efforts to improve the working conditions of contract academic staff (CAS).
As part of FEW activities, CAUT is organizing a social media day of action on Wednesday, October 18, 2023. Be sure to follow CAUT and CUASA on Twitter/X so you can join in on the day of action.
© 2023 Carleton University Academic Staff Association
