September 20, 2000
SALARY IS ONLY ONE ISSUE AMONG MANY
One might get the impression that salary is the only issue separating MUNFA from the Memorial administration. This is not true. There are many issues: the remainder of the financial package, language issues with financial implications, and non-financial language issues. We will briefly review a few of the issues.
FINANCIAL PACKAGE
The financial package includes three items: salary, an early retirement package, and pension reform.
MUNFA presented the administration with an early retirement package in December 1999 and has never received a response. By the time the Collective Agreement now being negotiated expires, more than half the current faculty will be eligible for early retirement; that is, they will be 55 years of age or older. The MUNFA package has a retirement incentive which declines with age, to encourage faculty to retire as early as possible. The proposal was couched in this way to demonstrate to the administration that MUNFA was serious and understood that this arrangement was probably what the administration would want to see in an early retirement package.
One objection to early retirement may be that Memorial will have trouble replacing those retirees whom it wants to replace. This point has merit, but it does not take into account the fact that, since American and Canadian universities are increasing their hiring now and in the future, the problem of recruitment will only get worse. In other words, if it is difficult for Memorial to hire now, it will be much harder in a few years. To wait for natural retirement at age 65 will be self-defeating for the administration. In addition, the money saved from the salaries of higher paid senior faculty who retire can be used both to hire younger professors and to increase the salaries of those faculty and librarians who remain. Hiring will also be somewhat easier when our salaries approach the average of our comparison group. Early retirement is discussed in more detail in a companion Negotiation News.
MUNFA presented the administration with a pension reform proposal at the first negotiating session, on October 4, 1999. Rather than having the Board of Regents as the sole trustees of the Pension Fund, the MUNFA proposal would have a joint Board of Trustees, 50% appointed by the union and 50% appointed by the Board of Regents. This system is essentially that currently in effect at the University of New Brunswick. This reformed pension system would give MUNFA more of a say in how the pension fund operates and, in particular, would give MUNFA some say in how pension surpluses are used. It is our hope that MUNFA's increased participation might lead to the indexing of pensions and other improvements in pension benefits that MUNFA members will ultimately receive.
LANGUAGE ISSUES WITH FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
MUNFA has proposed that teaching norms be four or five courses per year, thus reducing the anomalously high teaching norms in certain academic units.
MUNFA and the administration differ on the effect of marking assistants on teaching loads.
The administration wants to be able to assign distance education courses as part of the regular teaching load.
The administration wants to keep the salary paid to per course instructors at $3,519 per course as it has been since 1989. MUNFA wants to continue to tie the per course rate to the salary scale.
MUNFA has proposed that term appointees ineligible for the Pension Plan receive RRSP contributions from the university. The administration says no.
The administration wants to lengthen the period of time for normal promotion in the Library.
The administration wants to eliminate carryover vacation for faculty and librarians and to continue not to pay faculty for unused vacation when they resign or retire.
The administration refuses to promote teaching term appointees who earn doctorates to the rank of assistant professor if teaching term appointees would then be paid on the assistant professor scale.
The administration wants to limit its moving expense rebates when a faculty member or librarian is transferred between Corner Brook and St. John's, even when the transfer is at the administration's request.
MUNFA defines the core functions of the university in the event of financial exigency in terms of operations at both campuses, St. John's and Corner Brook. The administration wishes to have the option of gutting the programs at Corner Brook.
The administration is unwilling to increase the travel fund beyond the present $600 per faculty member or librarian.
The administration wants the completely unfettered right to raise parking fees.
MUNFA and the administration differ on their views of copyright ownership and royalties.
NON-FINANCIAL LANGUAGE ISSUES
There are numerous outstanding collegiality issues proposed by MUNFA including: (1) more formal procedures than the administration's preference for "consulting." "Consulting" might mean, among other things, that the administrator speaks to only a few of the colleagues in a unit, or that the administrator asks the faculty and librarians for comments after a decision has been made on who will hold an office; (2) updating and placing into the body of the Collective Agreement the Policies and Procedures for Appointing and Reviewing Academic Administrators; and (3) collegial processes for the appointing of shared and adjunct appointments.
MUNFA wants a clause in the Collective Agreement recognizing that the administration has a responsibility to accommodate faculty and librarians who have special needs up to but not including the point where the accommodation creates undue hardship for the institution. The administration refuses to consider such a clause.
The administration refuses to consider clauses requiring that the Research Ethics Boards follow the Tri-Council guidelines under which they were established and to permit academic staff members to vote on at least a portion of the membership of the committees.
The administration is intent on modifying the definition of scholarly activity for librarians, thus restricting what is considered scholarship.
The administration would consider the matter of determining course equivalencies be an administration prerogative.
The administration wants the right to increase the teaching load of University Research Professors and named chairs.
The administration wants to remove the entitlement to a one course teaching remission of a faculty member whose research is above the norm of his or her department. The administration would "consider" research output in determining teaching loads.
The administration would restrict the role of the "professional development" of librarians.
Under the administration's proposals, faculty hired without a doctorate (in disciplines where the doctorate is standard) would not be tenure track until they completed the degree, and could not be promoted to assistant professor or receive tenure unless they completed the doctorate.
The administration would limit the use of the medical defence in disciplinary matters.
The administration would limit the amount of time an academic staff member could spend on outside activities, even when such activities do not impinge on the academic staff member's duties and responsibilities.
The administration refuses to accept a straightforward maternity/paternity leave policy.
Regarding term appointees, MUNFA has proposed that more term appointees receive the protection of the bargaining unit. MUNFA has also proposed that all term appointees, including those not in the bargaining unit, be given reasonable working conditions. MUNFA has proposed that a special committee be formed to consider long term term appointees for fast track appointments as tenure track faculty. The administration has rejected all of these proposals but has added one of its own, that a teaching term appointee who received a tenure track appointment shall not be able to count his or her time served as a teaching term appointee towards the time required to be eligible for tenure.
MUNFA would incorporate into the Collective Agreement specific requirements concerning occupational health and safety, e.g., regular monitoring of air quality in rooms known to have asbestos.
The administration refuses to commit to maintain, clean, ventilate and heat offices, and it will not even commit to use its best efforts to do so.
Since the administration says they cannot control the hours of the university daycare centre, MUNFA has proposed that teaching and other work assignments be made for the relevant faculty and librarians with consideration of those hours when it is likely that the daycare centre will be closed.
MUNFA has proposed an operational plan for the Joint Equity Committee that the administration does not seem prepared to consider.
MUNFA believes there should be full time employment equity and sexual harassment officers. The administration disagrees.
This extensive list is not exhaustive. There are additional matters separating the two sides.
Salaries are extremely important, especially after eleven years without a scale increase, but MUNFA members should keep in mind that there are many other items outstanding in our current round of negotiations. Failure to negotiate more favorable language than that proposed by the administration will negatively impact on working conditions and morale for a long time to come.
MUNFA Negotiating Committee:
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