RAAS Report
Friday, November 25, 2022
Ann Dennis, Editor
PRESIDENT’S UPDATE
A brief report from me, this month, as I scramble to keep up with teaching, getting my head around negotiations, and building relationships in the broader Faculty Association world. Given the Ford government’s position in relation to CUPE education workers and collective bargaining rights, along with the unusual number of university faculty and staff labour actions happening recently, it seems more important now than ever to stay connected to colleagues in other institutions and with the broader labour movement. Like some of you, I joined the CUPE protest on Friday, November 4 (in Guelph) to show some support for public education workers and to protest the Ford government’s use of the Notwithstanding Clause to side-step collective bargaining. Our collective efforts seem to have had an impact.
I spent November 15th at Queen’s Park, along with colleagues from several other Ontario-based faculty associations, meeting with KW and Guelph-area MPPs as an action of OCUFA’s annual Advocacy Day. Our advocacy efforts focused on reminding MPPs of the implications of the Laurentian debacle, and (1) pushing for meaningful government investment in post-secondary institutions (with Ontario falling 43% below the inter-provincial average for per-student public funding), (2) pressing for leadership in addressing entrenchment of precarious labour in universities and colleges, and (3) advocating for a holistic, survivor-centric approach to sexual violence on campus, rather than the narrow, punitive approach, represented in the PC Bill-26 (which recently passed 2nd reading in Queen’s Park and now going to committee).
This weekend (November 25-26) is CAUT Council, which governs CAUT and at which we have a seat. I am not able to attend, due to some personal circumstance, but I will endeavour to login to watch the proceedings when I can.
I am pleased to report that while the RAAS executive did manage to assist one of our colleagues in getting a potentially serious matter resolved through informal means, there have been no grievances filed of late, and that relations with our administration remain cordial and collegial.
Rob Case
RAAS President
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
We are starting to identify negotiation priorities, and we are meeting with Andrea Harrington (CAUT) next week to get oriented to procedures and strategies for opening articles for negotiation, introducing new articles, and resisting proposals to open articles we are happy with.
Thanks for all who completed our survey of negotiation priorities. Nineteen of our 46 members completed the survey, with a good mix of tenure-track and Lecturer colleagues.
Asked what fears or concerns RAAS members have about the upcoming negotiation, the predominant themes were:
Concern that budgetary choices in the context of Renison’s financial position will be used as leverage against us to limit any gains we might seek to achieve or even roll back current position, and
Concern that we will be overpowered, that the administration will turn to high powered lawyers to lead the negotiations, and that the administration will use “divide and conquer” tactics to undermine our negotiating position.
We understand and hear your concerns, and we will be looking to our membership for continued feedback, support, and solidarity across our different departments and appointment types as we get into negotiations in the late winter.
In addition to cleaning up some ambiguous language in the Collective Agreement, survey responses suggest that there is considerable convergence around a small number of negotiation priorities, such as job security and “workload creep”, and a range of more specific priorities for the team to investigate.
Our next steps as a Negotiating Committee are (1) to begin researching/developing language that attend to the issues and priorities we have identified already and (2) to continue talking to all of you about the nuances of priority negotiation issues.
We will not be able to take every issue identified by a RAAS member to the negotiating issue. Negotiation will require critical assessment of overall collective good, some difficult choices, and some strategic tradeoffs. As we move towards establishing a list of priorities, please continue to share your ideas, thoughts, and concerns regarding negotiations with any of us by email, phone, or any time you see us.
Rob Case
Lead Negotiator
EQUITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE
Our committee plans continue to be informed by a commitment to all our relations. As we think about equity and inclusion across all our relations, we will be planning ways to support RAAS efforts to advocate for an equitable and inclusive community that includes the web of relations that inform our workplace environment. The committee is working with our PALs* to facilitate and support equity-informed negotiations. We will begin with the development of an Equity Statement, which will inform the negotiation work going forward. This statement will serve as a guide for the commitments that we all as RAAS members are making to the well being of our community, RUC, uWaterloo, and the broader communities that we are connected to. The Committee would like to hear from you -- What do you believe needs to go into an equity statement?
Trish Van Katwyk
RAAS Representative
RAAS LECTURERS COMMITTEE (LC) UPDATE
1. A meeting with the RAAS Negotiation Team and bargaining reps from SJU
In October, the LC met with the representatives of two bargaining units at SJU. The discussion topics included negotiation strategies used during the 2022 negotiations, gains for the contract faculty at SJU, and methods of dealing with the encountered challenges. Subsequently, the LC met with the RAAS Negotiation Team to discuss the lecturers’ main negotiation priorities and concerns about the current CA. Possible methods and frequency of communication between the two groups we covered as well.
2. Support for contract faculty at Western
In the second weekend of November, some RAAS lecturers participated in the OCUFA-run email campaign to support the faculty at the University of Western Ontario. The main objective of the campaign was advocating for improved working conditions of part-time faculty (increased job security and inclusion of health benefits) and of all faculty groups (workload reduction).
FAUW LECTURERS COMMITTEE (LC) UPDATE
1. Coffee chat with the lecturer membership
In October, the LC held an informal meeting with UW lecturers to discuss the recent FAUW poll on ways forward with the negotiations about the revisions of Policies 76 and 77 (Faculty Appointments, and Tenure and Promotion of Faculty Members, respectively; both focused on the teaching stream). Potential ways of enhancing communications between different stakeholders (FAUW Board/Executive, LC, and lecturer membership) were also on the agenda.
2. November meeting
During the scheduled meeting this month, the LC Chair briefly notified the members about the recently struck Policy Development Committee (PDC)’s plan. This new PDC is another attempt at reaching an agreement between FAUW & uW Administration on the revised versions of Policies 76 and 77. The committee intends to work intensively in December (four meetings) hoping to achieve a consensus by the end this year. In case of an impasse, mitigation and arbitration will be considered as final steps to conclude the revision process.
The other main objective of the meeting was related to the enhanced communication objective. The LC has held targeted consultations with the Faculty of Applied Health lecturers and is preparing to continue such consultations with different departments of the other faculties in winter 2023. Other ways of information flow between the LC and lecturer membership were discussed as well.
OCUFA CONTRACT FACULTY COMMITTEE (CFC) UPDATE
1. Semi-annual workshop in October
This October, the OCUFA CFC held its second semi-annual day-long workshop in the hybrid mode. The main segments were the CFC Chair’s report, OCUFA President’s report, panel on the emergence of precarious faculty & erosion of tenure, and discussion about potential focus of the next year’s CFC Annual Social Media Day of Action.
Some important highlights of the two reports include:
Active engagement of many CFC members in the CAUT-run Fair Employment Week in October, including information tabling, a T-shirt day, a petition to the Administration, social media engagement, & sessional faculty forums;
An advisory panel struck by the Minister of Labour, Training, and Skills to create recommendations on Portable Benefits Advisory Panel – in relation to the absence of benefits or pension plan for CF
OCUFA Executive engagement in the aftermath of the Laurentian crisis & the Bill 124 – past and planned speeches of OCUFA President at the Provincial Parliament to advocate for the exclusion of post-secondary institutions from the provisions of The Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) & against Bill 124
Advocacy for the faculty at the bargaining table & for campaigns such as OCADFA #sessionalscount petition or UWOFA Take Action
2. A provincial survey of Ontarian associations & unions
This fall, to be better informed in its advocacy for contract faculty, OCUFA CFC has prepared a brief survey on the representation of such faculty across the different associations and unions in the province. The survey will be administered shortly.
Aga Wolczuk
RAAS Lecturers Committee Co-chair
Renison Representative on FAUW Lecturers Committee
OCUFA CFC Member
FAUW UPDATE
Please feel free to access the latest updates from FAUW here.
SATIRE
Report: Sale of Ottawa Senators have many concerned team may move to Ottawa
November 2, 2022, The Beaverton
Fans of the Ottawa Senators are worried the team may relocate to Ottawa instead of remaining in the suburb of Kanata.
NOT SATIRE
Legislation needed to spare others from Laurentian’s fate: Canadian Association of University Teachers
November 23, 2022, Kate Rutherford, CBC News
Canada needs new legislation to save universities from the same fate as Laurentian University, argues the Canadian Association of University Teachers.
OCUFA NEWS
RAAS is a member of the Ontario Confederation of University CAUT Associations (OCUFA), a province-wide association of our peers.
Ontario Auditor General gives eye-opening details on Laurentian’s insolvency
November 18, 2022, Kate Rutherford, CBC Sudbury
Laurentian ‘embraces’ report, province pledges new process for assessing universities’ financial health.
Conestoga College international students speak out over high fees
November 15, 2022, Kitchener News
International students at Conestoga College are speaking out about rising tuition fees and joining others across the province calling on the Ontario government for some relief.
New Wampum Learning Lodge a ‘home away from home’ for Indigenous students at Western
November 8, 2022, Angela McInnes, CBC London
A newly opened space for Indigenous learning at Western University is being called the most overt action taken by the university in regard to reconciliation.
2021-2022 OCUFA Awards of Distinction Announced
November 7, 2022, OCUFA News
The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) recognized 12 members of Ontario’s academic community for their teaching, librarianship, journalism, scholarship, and service to their faculty associations as recipients of the 2021-2022 OCUFA Awards of Distinction last week.
Check This Out!
Congratulations to Kent Williams for a paper presentation titled “Using AutoAnalysis to measure fluency and intelligibility gains.” Kent’s presentation is profiled on the RAAS website in the following link.
Member Spotlight
Hello Everyone,
I am a continuing lecturer at English Language Studies, Culture and Language Studies Department. I have been working at Renison since 2010, teaching English for Multilingual Speakers (EMLS) courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. The courses I taught are designed to help students develop their communication skills in terms of non-verbal communication; use of voice to enhance the conveyed ideas; speech and written text organization, including cohesion; and speech and written text accuracy.
The aspects I particularly enjoy teaching are small talk and conversation skills, language corpora use, and independent learning skills, which are closely related to learner autonomy. I have always believed that the best way I can help my students is by guiding them in the process of developing and honing learning strategies that could assist the students long after they finish the course with me. Based on my personal experience, some of the English corpora (collections of written texts) currently available online have a capacity to help English learners in their vocabulary development, exceeding that of many dictionaries. I have strived to pass to my students my passion for using language corpora, and those who were willing to explore some of the recommended websites appreciated that.
In terms of my service, I have been on the FAUW Lecturers Committee for three and a half years now and on the OCUFA Contract Faculty Committee for almost a year now. In addition to that, I have chaired and co-chaired the RAAS Lecturers Committee since September 2021. Through these engagements, I have had many opportunities to work with lecturers on the local, university, and provincial levels, and to advocate for fair working conditions, especially for the most precariously employed.
I am looking forward to working with the Renison and UW community of students and faculty in the future, hoping we can go through the tough time still ahead of us.
Warmly,
Agnieszka (Aga) Wolczuk
