The Communiqué – Volume 46, No. 12 – Mar. 1, 2024 – Carleton University Academic Staff Association

The Communiqué – Volume 46, No. 12 – Mar. 1, 2024

In this Issue:

CUASA Disability Caucus Coffee Drop-In, March 11
CUASA at the CAUT Francophones Conference
Tentative Agreement with CUASA Staff
Congratulations to CUPE 2424
Nominations Open: 2024 Steering Committee Elections
Get involved: Other Volunteer Opportunities at CUASA, Large and Small
Stay connected: Find CUASA on Social Media
Updates from OCUFA and CAUT

CUASA Disability Caucus Coffee Drop-In, March 11

The CUASA Disability Caucus is having its first coffee drop-in! These monthly meetups are for CUASA members working with disability. You’re welcome to attend, share stories, or just come by to say hello. These drop-ins are confidential; discussions are not recorded. Coffee and snacks are provided.

We hope you can join on Monday March 11, from 9:30-10:30AM in the CUASA Boardroom, 2009 Dunton Tower.

For additional info on this event, or on the Disability Caucus, please contact Max López at [email protected].

CUASA at the CAUT Francophones Conference

Photo credit: Dominique Marshall

On February 2 and 3, Council member Émilie Urbain and President Dominique Marshall represented CUASA at the 4^th Conférence des francophones de l’ACPPU (CAUT).

The CAUT Francophones’ Committee reports to CAUT’s Executive and advises on concerns of francophone academic staff at Canadian institutions. The Conference brought together union representatives from across the country and experts on francophone minorities in Canada to discuss challenges (but also hope and solutions) faced by francophone academic staff at francophone, bilingual and anglophone institutions. In this year’s edition, two of the main themes were strike mobilization efforts and bargaining strategies, and support for academic staff members conducting research in French.

The event was a great opportunity to build relationships with other union representatives and to familiarize ourselves with pan-Canadian initiatives (such as existing research support from ACFAS) available for French-speaking scholars working in institutions similar to Carleton. These two days of fruitful exchanges gave us a lot of ideas for the upcoming round of bargaining and a renewed sense of enthusiastic solidarity with fellow unions across the country.

Tentative Agreement with CUASA Staff

As members may be aware, CUASA Staff are represented by Unifor Local 567. This week, CUASA and Unifor 567 completed negotiations for the 2024 round and have declared a tentative agreement. The agreement is now subject to ratification by members of the Unifor Local 567-CUASA Staff bargaining unit, and by CUASA Council, in accordance with CUASA Bylaw 18.

CUASA and Unifor Local 567 would like to thank the work of their negotiating teams:

for CUASA: Stéfy McKnight (Chief Negotiator), Dominique Marshall, Greg Franks, and Brett Stevens
for Unifor Local 567: Jaye Horton (Chief Negotiator), Alex Aucoin, and Hanan Mankal

CUASA Staff have been unionized since 2012. The 2024-2027 agreement will be the fifth collective agreement between CUASA and its employees.

Congratulations to CUPE 2424

CUASA extends its sincere congratulations to CUPE 2424, which represents more than 1,000 administrative, technical and library workers, on the successful ratification of the new collective agreement with the University!

Nominations Open: 2024 Steering Committee Elections

We are now accepting nominations for the Steering Committee for terms beginning on July 1, 2024. The Steering Committee helps to set direction for the union, and administers Association policies. This committee meets once a month during the academic year, typically on Thursday afternoons, and roles on this Committee typically include teaching releases in exchange for your service.

New this year: As nominations are received, we will be updating the Get Involved webpage to list which positions have received nominations, and who the nominated members are, so that you can get to know a little about them.

Nominations are now open for the following positions whose term of two years has expired (click on the position title to view the description):

Nominations for President must be submitted to the CUASA Office by Thursday, March 28. Nominations for other positions must be submitted by Friday, April 26. Please send completed nomination forms to [email protected].

We are also still looking for a volunteer to serve as CUASA’s Vice President, for the term ending June 30, 2025. This is an essential role, and we would greatly appreciate having someone volunteer and help support the work of the President.

All nominations must be made using the form found here. All nomination forms must include the signatures of the nominee and two Association members as nominators.

If you have any questions about the positions or the process, please contact CUASA’s Chair, Nominations and Elections, Wasiu Raji, at [email protected].

Get involved: Other Volunteer Opportunities at CUASA, Large and Small

The Association is as strong as its membership, so we count on the time, ideas and commitment of members to achieve and update CUASA’s goals. If you’d like to contribute to CUASA’s work and positions, here are some ways you can help:

… help us prepare for the 2024 round by joining the Collective Bargaining Committee

The collective agreement will expire on April 30, 2024, and our Collective Bargaining Committee is hard at work preparing for the 2024 round of negotiations. We’re looking for some new members to help us prepare. The committee usually meets once a month, but may have additional meetings as we get closer to the spring.

… 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.

… join one of our Caucus Groups

CUASA’s 2SLBGTQIA+ Pride Caucus and Disability Caucus are now meeting regularly, and we are happy to welcome new members. 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 usually meet once a month.

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]. If you are interested in participating in a caucus group, please contact our Research Officer (Equity), Max López, at [email protected] for more details.

Stay connected: Find CUASA on Social Media

As we get closer to the 2024 round of collective bargaining, we encourage members to stay connected with CUASA by following our social media accounts:

As always, you can also find the latest CUASA news on our website!

Updates from OCUFA and CAUT

Ontario professors say new postsecondary funding a drop in the bucket

OCUFA says the province’s announcement of nearly $1.3 billion for universities and colleges over the next three years is an inadequate investment in Ontario’s postsecondary institutions.

“The Minister of Colleges and Universities recognizes that we are facing a funding crisis, but the gap between what has been provided and what is needed is massive,” said Nigmendra Narain, President of OCUFA. “This is a one-time drop in the bucket.”

The announced funding is less than half of the amount recommended by the government-appointed Blue-Ribbon Panel. It is almost eight times less than OCUFA’s recommendation for university funding alone over five years to reach Canada’s funding national average, as laid out in its 2024 pre-budget submission.

Read the full statement from OCUFA.

University of Toronto Librarians negotiate historic changes to policies

Librarian members of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) recently concluded six years of negotiations with the university to update the Policies for Librarians (PFL) that define librarians’ working terms at the University of Toronto, replacing the previous PFL in place since 1978.

The PFL now contains language recognizing the integral role of librarians in advancing the University’s mission and in collegial processes. The three areas of responsibility of librarians (professional practice, research and scholarly contributions and creative professional activities, and service) have been defined and made consistent with workload and career progression policies and procedures. Enhanced procedures that ensure greater fairness, job security protections and professional development gains were also won.

Read the full update from OCUFA.

Brandon faculty vote in favour of a strike

Last week, members of the Brandon University Faculty Association (BUFA) supported a strike mandate, with 87% voting in favour.

A major priority for BUFA is to improve equity, diversity and inclusion, and to decolonize and indigenize their collective agreement. Their negotiating team is back at the bargaining table this week, knowing their membership is behind them should they reach an impasse.

BUFA represents teaching faculty and professional members including instructors, librarians, counsellors and education specialists. They currently have 257 regular members and 93 contract academic staff.

View original post from CAUT.

Application Portal open for 2023-2024 OCUFA Awards of Distinction

OCUFA is now accepting nominations and applications for the 2023-2024 OCUFA Awards of Distinction.

Nomination and application deadline: March 8, 2024

The following awards are open for nominations:

Nominate someone for the Equity and Social Justice Award
Nominate someone for the OCUFA Service Award
Nominate someone for the Lorimer Collective Bargaining Award
Nominate someone for a Teaching and Academic Librarianship Award

The following fellowships are open for applications:

Read more about the purpose and guidelines for the OCUFA Awards of Distinction and past winners.

The Communiqué is published by the Carleton University Academic Staff Association. Past issues are archived on our website at CUASA.ca.
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