Message from the President

By Kristine Hansen, UWFA President

The end of term is now here, and we’re all busy marking, invigilating exams, dealing with anxiety-stricken students, doing a multitude of administrative tasks, and trying to squeeze in enough time for some progress on scholarly endeavours.  I wish everyone well in concluding the tasks of the fall term, and I wish you some well-deserved peace following that. The pace of UWFA’s work will continue unabated, at least until late December, and I am deeply appreciative of those UWFA members who carry out the Association’s work on top of their day jobs. Main Unit negotiations have required a very substantial time commitment from the negotiating team, and the Job Action Committee has been busy preparing for the possibility that we need to take action to back up our negotiators. Meanwhile, all of the regular UWFA work continues: grievance handling, dealing with various workplace issues that arise almost daily, and meeting with the Employer on Collective Agreement and other issues.

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Message from the President

By Kristine Hansen, UWFA President

With the start of a new term, the UWFA Executive Council and UWFA’s various committees are also starting work again. Over the summer, an agreement was reached in Collegiate negotiations. However, although the Main Unit negotiating team has been busy preparing proposals, there have been no MU negotiating sessions to date, due to the University’s lack of a Vice President Academic. We anticipate that negotiations will have begun by the time you receive this message. It’s been great to see substantial member involvement in preparations for Main Unit bargaining. Substantial numbers of people participated in the activities of the Collective Bargaining Committee, which prepared a negotiating mandate. There also was good turnout at the consultation meetings that led up to its preparation and at the Main Unit general meeting that endorsed the mandate. It’s good to know that as we proceed to the table, we can expect a good proportion of our members to be involved. As we know from the experience of our Collegiate negotiators and from the discussions we held with the Employer last spring, this is likely to be a very difficult round of bargaining – one that probably will require substantial resolve on our part to achieve the bargaining mandate.

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Highlights from the President's Report to the Annual General Meeting

By Dr. Kristine Hansen, UWFA President

Pictured (left to right): Dr. David Burley, Dr. Tracy Whalen and Dr. Alexander Freund

This has been a year of considerable UWFA activity. All three bargaining units have been in the process of negotiations, there has been an ongoing need for advocacy on a variety of issues, there have been an unusual number of Member-to-Member dispute situations, and we have experienced staffing changes and other internal issues.

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Follett to Close Canadian Office

By Daniel Draper, UWFA Administrative Assistant

Early this month, Follett – the company that now controls the UW Bookstore – announced that it would be closing its Ottawa offices and centralizing its operations in Oak Brook, Illinois. According to reports, Follett will be moving its trade book purchasing and sourcing to Illinois, while moving some of the other responsibilities to its bookstores in Canada.

The move to close the Canadian offices has caused serious concern for local publishers, including Wayne Antony of Fernwood Publishing. In a letter to Dr. Axworthy, he expressed concern that “only the largest national and international publishers will be able to effectively present their titles to the Follett buyer in Illinois. Local and Canadian publishers and authors have been, for the most part, shut out of the new U of W bookstore.”

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Mandates, Negotiations and Keeping Your Cool

An Interview with Dr. Wendy Josephson, Chief Negotiator for the Main Unit Bargaining Team

By Dr. Roewan Crowe, UWFA Member-at-Large

Pictured: Main Unit Bargaining Team (left to right) Dr. Richard Jochelson, Dr. Wendy Josephson, Ms. Lisa McGifford, Dr. James Currie

RC:  Can you tell me about your role as Chief Negotiator for the Main Bargaining Unit? How long have you been in this role? What does the position entail?

WJ: The UWFA Executive appointed me as Chief Negotiator for the Main Unit at the end of January, so I’ve been in the role for just over two months.

The Chief Negotiator leads the Negotiating Team throughout the process of negotiating a collective agreement and speaks on behalf of the Association at the bargaining table. So far, I’ve been participating in the Collective Bargaining Committee’s consultations with the Main Unit membership about what Members would like to see in the next collective agreement. Once the iterative process of establishing a mandate from the Members has been completed, I will work with the rest of the team (James Curry, Richard Jochelson, and Executive Director Lisa McGifford) to draft proposals in contract language and lead the team in negotiations with the Employer’s bargaining team. It will also be my responsibility to keep the UWFA Executive informed about what’s happening at the table.

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Vice Presentation

By Dr. Mark Golden, UWFA Member-at-Large

Somewhere amidst the Dark Matter that makes up so much of our universe a committee is meeting. Made up of representatives of the Board of Regents, support staff, students, senior administrators and UWFA members, it will at length recommend a new Vice-President Academic to Lloyd Axworthy.

There is a lot not to like in this process. The committee makes use of headhunters and these do not come cheap. Senate will have no role in ratifying what is after all an academic appointment. But what I find most galling is its secrecy. Are we choosing a colleague or an undercover agent?

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We Heart Faculty Social Thanks

The UWFA Membership Committee would like to thank all those members who came out to the UWFA We Heart Faculty Social at the King’s Head on March 12. Together we raised over $300.00 for the UWFA Scholarship and Bursary Fund.

We would like to also thank all of our sponsors who donated prizes for the social:

Sorrentos, Casa Burrito, the YMCA, Soup, Sandwiches & More, Staples, UW Bookstore, UW Computer Store, the Wesmen, Twist, Out ‘n’ About Travel, Movie Village, Rumors, Thunder Rapids, Pure Escape, UWSA (Soma Café) and Zealous MediSpa.

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Spring CAUT Council Report

By Dr. Tracy Whalen, UWFA Secretary

This past week (April 22-25), I attended the 2010 Spring Council for the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) in Ottawa. This session included some of the standard fare: reports on administration and finance; annual reports from standing committees; the amendment of clauses in CAUT Policies and Issues; the presentation of awards. But one topic on the agenda—-diversity and representation on the Executive—-provoked debate and ultimately a change in CAUT by-law.

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Community Learning? The UWFA Executive Responds

Is “Community Learning,” as contemplated in President Axworthy’s recent position paper, a good thing for the University of Winnipeg?  The UWFA Executive is not yet convinced. The Association has responded to concerns the document raises in the domains of academic freedom, faculty workload, and Collective Agreement provisions. We also have commented on the implications for the funding of core academic operations of university fundraising for community activities. Concerns remain about process and about the need for academic review. The UWFA response is too lengthy for inclusion here, but members are urged to read Dr. Axworthy’s paper.

Then read UWFA’s response.

UWFA Women and Equity Committee

By Roewan Crowe, Chair - Women and Equity Committee

The UWFA Women and Equity Committee (WE) is a Standing Committee of UWFA. Formerly the Status of Women Committee, it was renamed in 2009. WE works to represent the interests of women, designated equity groups, and other marginalized people (henceforth “women and equity”) on the University of Winnipeg campus and to liaise with the UWFA Executive and other committees regarding their interests.

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