Brandon University professors give strike mandate to Union amid negotiation deadlock

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This article was published 17/02/2024 (582 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brandon University professors have given their union a strong strike mandate amid a bargaining stalemate involving a dispute over language that aims to decolonize their collective agreement.

Almost 87 per cent of voting faculty association members (233 of 268 participants) cast ballots in support of taking job action to finalize a deal in a referendum that ended at midnight Saturday.

The turnout rate was about 76 per cent.

The membership wants to finalize a deal before March 31, which will mark one year since the last contract expired, but things have been slow-moving since negotiations began in early 2023, said Gautam Srivastava, president of the faculty association known as BUFA.

“It’s a long time for members without pay increases, lack of clarity around workload, lack of clarity around hiring and departments – there’s all sorts of stuff,” Srivastava said.

It remains unclear whether the new contract will cover three or four years.

The bargaining team has proposed overall wage increases totalling between seven and eight per cent in the former case and roughly 12 per cent in the latter scenario, the president said.

He added the union is seeking an update to what he called “astronomically low” pension figures because retirees receive between $30,000 to $40,000 annually at present and those payouts have not been updated in upwards of 15 years.

Internal memos suggest the faculty association’s proposal to include updated language on “EDID” – equity, diversity, inclusion and decolonization – is proving to be one of the most contentious issues.

Five years ago, representatives from BUFA and the university established a working group on Indigenization to renew both parties’ commitment to inclusion in the workforce and recognize the role of Indigenous knowledges on campus.

A series of “tea and bannocks,” which included consultations with area knowledge keepers, led to the faculty association proposing some adjustments to the draft agreement for the 2023-24 school year and beyond.

The proposal includes updating job postings to welcome candidates with community research and land-based knowledge and considering both as equivalent to academic degrees when issuing promotions and tenure.

It requests hiring committees participate in mandatory training on unconscious bias and suggests BU should leverage healing circles, among alternative problem-solving practices, to address grievances.

“Because we’re so closely tied to Indigenous communities in our area, we want to make breakthroughs like this. This is something that we want – not only for Manitoba, but for all of Canada,” Srivastava said.

As of the fall, all undergraduate students entering their first year at BU are required to complete at least three credit hours of Indigenous content to graduate.

Doug Pople said he and a dozen colleagues – roughly 10 per cent of the BUFA membership identifies as First Nations, Métis or Inuit – have been “slammed” with work in supporting the rollout of the new course requirement.

The Métis academic, who runs the student employment centre, said employees support the initiative but they need support and Indigenizing their collective agreement to acknowledge that reality is “the right thing to do.”

It’s in the university’s best interest to create a welcoming culture for prospective Indigenous students and staff, Pople said, adding BU’s response to BUFA’s new ideas has been “incredibly deflating.”

“(The employer) expressed that decolonization is impossible, so they will only commit to reconciliation,” the bargaining committee informed the membership via email this month.

Committee member Jon-Tomas Godin said the broad updates were designed to ensure academics who are women, racialized, disabled, Indigenous and members of the LGBTTQ+ community are treated fairly and are not overburdened with service work.

Godin said BUFA is not keen on setting hiring targets to increase representation but rather focused on promoting an equity lens in hiring and operations across the institution.

Administration confirmed negotiations are ongoing, but declined to provide comment on the contract talks.

BU informed community members the two sides have meetings scheduled throughout reading week (Feb. 20 to 23) in a mass email sent to community members Friday.

“We are committed to reaching the best deal possible for all parties, including students, at the bargaining table,” it states.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca