U of W profs accept three-year contract, 3.3% wage increase

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This article was published 11/03/2011 (5309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

University of Winnipeg professors have voted in favour of a three-year contract which sees a total wage increase of 3.3 per cent over the life of the agreement and an overall increase of 5.41 per cent when benefits are added.

After the ballots were counted, 221 professors, librarians, coaches and athletic therapists at the downtown university voted in favour of the deal which expires March 30, 2013. Twenty-six ballots were cast rejecting the deal and there were 350 people eligible to vote.

“The settlement is reasonable in the Manitoba university context and it builds the basis for fairness in the years to come,” said University of Winnipeg Faculty Association president Kristine Hansen in a statement issued Friday night.

“This collective agreement is both fair and fiscally responsible,” university president and vice-chancellor Lloyd Axworthy said in a statement.

Axworthy added the agreement also ensures “we are able to recruit and retain top-quality faculty, and addresses many important administration issues for our faculty.”

The first year of the agreement sees no cost of living increase, but a .5 per cent wage increase in the second year and a 2.8 per cent increase in the final year.

But, with increases to career development increments, pension contributions, travel and professional accounts, and base salary increases, it results in a total 5.41 per cent increase in the three years.

Earlier, Prof. Jim Silver said “I’m satisfied.

“I think we made some progress. Other areas will have to be done in future rounds of negotiations.”

Another professor, Christopher Brauer, said both the university and the province should be doing more in future to make sure professors are treated the same as they are at the University of Manitoba and Brandon University.

“I’m not very happy (with the contract), but I do think it’s the best the university is able to offer,” Brauer said.

“Another issue you hardly hear is the University of Winnipeg only receives $8,500 per student from the province while the University of Manitoba gets $12,000 and $14,000 goes to Brandon University. That should be looked at.”

A strike was averted just 30 minutes before it was to begin last week when the University of Winnipeg Faculty Association and the university reached a tentative deal after 14 hours of conciliation.

The union had been looking for an 8.4 per cent while the university countered with 3.7 per cent.

Throughout the afternoon on Friday, after union officials held a meeting to detail the agreement to the 350 members of the association, they streamed in to vote in the off-campus office which almost became strike headquarters.

To prevent information from leaking out to the public before the vote results could be announced, the union didn’t provide copies of the agreement to its members, instead reading out the key information.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca