AAU and NSCC commence bargaining
by Christy Culberson
August 9, 2023
5 Things the Atlantic Academic Union (AAU) wants you to know as we head into Bargaining with the College.
After an immensely successful Negotiation Mandate vote (the first time the AU has done such a thing) the Atlantic Academic Union (formerly known as the NSCCAU) served notice on July 4, 2023 to NSCC that it was ready to commence bargaining. What does this mean to you as a Member of the AAU?
1) The Union’s proposed timeline for bargaining – 5 months is the average. Communication lines with the College negotiating team are open and despite the College already asking for an extension (which was agreed to) of Opening Day, the AAU remains steadfast in its commitment to negotiating these Collective Agreements in a timely manner.
2) The Faculty and Professional Support asking packages have been compiled. Member Asks collected earlier in the year have been discussed and evaluated by the Ec. Welfare committees, the consultant hired by the AAU, and the AAU Executive. While not all asks made their way into the current asking packages, the AAU truly feels that the packages submitted are a reflection of the Membership of the AAU and they address Member’s current concerns surrounding the workplace.
3) On August 8th both parties had their first meeting. The meeting was very positive as where Asking Packages were exchanged and Ground Rules were established. We are optimistic that the College’s comments about a ‘new way forward’ and being ‘hopeful’ are strong indicators that they see the value in an innovative and fresh approach to bargaining this time around. We hope to use an ‘open negotiation’ approach that allows engagement from stakeholders on both sides of the bargaining table to be more involved in the collective bargaining process.
4) When it comes to communications with our Members, regarding negotiations, the AAU will continue to use alternate member emails, our website, and socials to keep members informed. We have a very robust communication proposal planned with daily progress updates to be posted on the website when there are negotiation sessions taking place. There well be a negotiations timeline, a FAQ section and more valuable information on our website atlanticau.ca.
5) When the current contracts expire on Sept 1, 2023 (with a 0.5% economic increase slated for then), it will still be business as usual for the Atlantic Academic Union and its Labour Relations. The terms and conditions of the expired collective agreements remain in force until new Collective Agreements are concluded (per Article 45.1 of the 1 September 2020 – 31 August 2023 Faculty and Professional Support Collective Agreements).
The Atlantic Academic Union and it’s Negotiating Teams are ready and prepared for what looks to be a very busy upcoming collective bargaining term with the College. We are hopeful that the new way forward referred to in a meeting with the Union and College means that Negotiations will result in Agreements that reflect the reality of today’s workforce and are a promise of a better way to do things when looking to the future. While labour action is a last resort to lack of progress when Negotiating with the College, the positive results (see chart below) that have been achieved in today’s labour environment by other unions when pushed to strike or implement other job actions, is something your Union will be considering carefully if need be.
In the graph below, you’ll see a comparison of the employer’s position on wages before PSAC declared strike action; the settlements achieved by other federal public service bargaining agents for the same time period; and the wage offer PSAC negotiated in the tentative agreement.
* Based on an annual average salary of $67,300 for PSAC members at TB (image courtesy of PSAC)
The Atlantic Academic Union is here for it’s Members and will continue to push for innovative ways to improve labour conditions for all Atlantic Canadians.
We encourage our members to comment on this news blog below.