CAUT’s national Council begins censure of the University of Manitoba and Winnipeg Regional Health Authority

Reproduced from the CAUT website at www.caut.ca.

(Ottawa – April 27, 2010) Delegates to the national Council of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) meeting in Ottawa have voted unanimously to begin the process of censuring the University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA).

The vote came after delegates discussed the findings of an ad-hoc committee of inquiry into the case of Dr. Larry Reynolds, which concluded that the University of Manitoba and the WRHA terminated his position without just cause or due process.

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UWinnipeg Faculty create scholarship & bursary fund

Unanimous vote shows generous support to students

May 26, 2009

WINNIPEG, MB - Faculty at The University of Winnipeg are showing students that they care about them.

On April 6, in a University of Winnipeg Faculty Association general meeting, and in a follow-up meeting on April 8 with the Collegiate, University of Winnipeg Faculty Association members voted unanimously in favour of establishing a fund to address the University’s current shortfall in student scholarships and bursaries, created by the current economic downturn.

That Fund has now been established in cooperation with the University of Winnipeg Foundation. Thanks to the Foundation’s generously waiving their 5% administration fee, 100% of new money pledged toward this Fund will go directly to students.

University administrators and excluded employees have voluntarily raised $250,000. The University of Winnipeg Faculty Association’s goal is to match that figure, and to have the participation of as many of its slightly more than 300 members as possible. The faculty is responding to the needs of students in a time of significant economic difficulty.

Many University of Winnipeg Faculty Association Members have already donated or pledged for specific scholarships or bursaries. More than 75% of University of Winnipeg Faculty Association members are already donors to the University, and over the last five years they have donated more than $375,000, mainly to scholarships and bursaries.

Whatever may happen in these difficult economic times, University of Winnipeg Faculty Association Members have voted with one voice to try to ensure that University of Winnipeg students do not take a disproportionate hit. They are confident of the generous response of Members in supporting the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association Scholarship and Bursary Fund.

BUFA Responds to Brandon University Press Release

On Wednesday October 1, 2008, Brandon University issued a press release which put what BUFA considers to be a very unique spin on what has transpired at the negotiations table.

It is true that the Faculty Association did turn down an offer which included a reduction in workload for teaching faculty. However, what the press release did not say, was that offer was contingent upon BUFA accepting their salary offer of 2 ½%, 2% and 2% with no improvements for the pension plan. It was also contingent upon BUFA making significant language concessions.

We liken it to a situation where a parent says to a child, “You can have a cookie, but only if you never watch TV or surf the internet again. Texting’s out too.”

The Administration’s press release also lumps together normal steps through the salary scales (increments) with increases in the scale itself.

The Administration asserts that it did not remove 1.3 million dollars from its proposal. BUFA believes that it did.

BUFA believes that the Employer had allocated 2 million dollars to workload reduction. The Administration asked BUFA to priorize its demands and BUFA decided that the money would be better spent on salaries and pension improvements. It is BUFA’s position that the Administration’s next offer was short by $1.3 million. To this end, BUFA is consulting with our lawyers about launching an “unfair labour practice” action against the Employer with the Manitoba Labour Board.

The Administration is now publically saying that they wish to proceed to binding arbitration. We think that’s what they wanted all along. BUFA told the Employer during negotiations, before conciliation and mediation, that the Faculty Association had no intention of entering into binding arbitration. We believe that this is a procedure which favours the Employer. The Employer is well aware of this.BUFA believes that a collective agreement should be reached at the bargaining table, and to that end, we intend to do our best to force the Employer to come back to the table with a new proposal which could at least be a starting point for meaningful talks.