September 15, 2003

QUFACTS

In This Newsletter

Welcome Message
Current Executive Committee 2003-2004
Report to Spring General Meeting
Council of Representatives 2003-04
Nominations of Staff Awards
Special Dates re Your Benefits
GoodLife Discounted Membership
QUFA Volunteer Vacancies
Job Ad & House Rental

Current Executive Committee 2003-2004

President	Constance Adamson
Past-President	Barbara Kisilevsky
Vice-President	Richard Greenfield
Treasurer	Ken Ko
Secretary	Caroline Falkner
Grievance Chair	Lynne Hanson
Adjunct Representative	David Fritz
Council of Representatives Chair	Mark Jones
Political Action Committee Chair	Geoff Smith
Librarians/Archivists	Jeremy Heil
Collective Agreement Representative	Allan Manson
Equity Representative	Genevieve Dumas
Members-at-Large	Gary Vanloon Tim Smith
Adjunct 1 Observer	Sarah Gibson-Bray

QUFA Staff

Administrative Officer	Elaine Berman
Administrative Assistant	Rhonda Clark-George
Grievance Officer	Phil Goldman

QUFACTS is a service of the Faculty Association of Queen’s University to promote exchange of ideas, foster debate on issues, and inform members about current issues related to the purpose of the Association.

Members are invited to submit letters (approximately 150 words) and news items for publication. Letters will be published unedited. Any modification of articles will be done in consultation with the authors. Items may be sent to the QUFA office, Room 120, Old Medical Building.

Elaine Berman, Editor
Kimberly Carroll, Layout Editor
Rhonda Clark-George, Web Design

Welcome Message

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to all new members of both bargaining units! QUFA is very pleased to be representing Adjunct 1 instructors in addition to regular faculty, librarians, archivists and initial, term, renewable, and continuing adjuncts. QUFA is now in a better position to protect and promote the interests of all those involved in academic delivery at Queen’s.

We have a busy year ahead of us. Activities include negotiating a first collective agreement for the new Adjunct 1 bargaining unit, organizing its structure and finances, consulting and meeting with these new members and recruiting Adjunct 1 representatives for the bargaining team, Council and Executive. In preparation for salary negotiations for the original bargaining unit we have established a Salary Review Committee to examine the compensation structure at Queen’s and comparable institutions. We will negotiate the 2004/2005 across-the-board (scale) increase next March and face a full round of negotiations later next year for the new multi-year contract.

The QUFA Executive Committee and Council of Representatives meet each month. The Fall General Meeting for all members will be held Tuesday December 2nd. The work of the JCAA (Joint Committee to Administer the Agreement) and the Grievance Officer continued non-stop over the summer. Much is accomplished by these mechanisms in bringing problems to the attention of the University Administration and resolving issues at as early a stage as possible.

Work has begun negotiating a first collective agreement for the new Adjunct 1 bargaining unit. The teams met a few times during the summer and have scheduled bargaining sessions twice a week from now through next January. The University Administration is represented by Suzanne Fortier (VP Academic), Alison Harvison-Young (Dean of Law), Les Monkman (Special Advisor to the Principal), Elaine McDougall (Assoc. VP Faculty Relations) and John Dixon (Assoc. VP Academic) or Robert Silverman ( Dean, Arts & Science). The QUFA team is led by Marvin Baer (Law, retired), Phil Goldman (Grievance Officer) and Sarah Gibson-Bray (Adjunct 1, Drama).

QUFA is seeking additional Adjunct 1 members for the bargaining advisory team. A survey has been sent to the Adjunct 1 bargaining unit to gather information on their needs and priorities and a series of meetings will be held to consult with Adjunct 1's during the fall term.

Thus we will focus this year on establishing the new bargaining unit and conducting a thorough analysis of compensation issues in preparation for negotiations next year. I welcome your comments and concerns and hope to hear from you!

Constance Adamson,
President

Former President’s Report to Spring General Meeting April 30, 2003

This was supposed to be a quiet period in the QUFA cycle. Bargaining finished this time last year, completing the details of the CA kept us busy last summer, and we anticipated spending this year making sure the agreement was being properly implemented and developing our resources, taking stock of our situation in preparation for scale bargaining during the first ten days of March 2004 and for the next full bargaining in 2005.

To an extent this has happened: We revised our constitution in the Fall. We have gone a long way to assembling a salary review working group to take a probably overdue look at the whole salary structure that has developed rather organically at Queen’s over the past ten years and more. The intention is to have a sound position on this developed prior to bargaining in 2005 as there is no time to work on the model when we’re at the table. For this we need a couple more volunteers to round out the interest groups particularly starting faculty and particularly women. We have continued to work through the anomalies side table and its various sub groups to secure equitable adjustment of anomalous salaries for regular and adjunct faculty and for librarians. We have continued to work through the JCAA to resolve issues concerning the collective agreement. We have also continued to work for the resolution of other issues through the grievance process. This has been a busy year in this area and we have responded to the ongoing rise in demand (and as another aspect of our determination to provide the most professional and best possible service to our members) by establishing the staff position of QUFA Grievance Officer as full-time instead of a half time position. This role will continue to be filled by Phil Goldman. But to an extent events overtook us and our supposedly quiet time became a very busy time indeed, resulting in what is surely the most important development for QUFA since we first organized and got our first contract in 1997. I refer, of course, to the organization of the Adjunct 1's.

I’m delighted to say that a week ago today on April 23 an OLRB hearing took place on campus. Although we’re still waiting for the last piece of official paper, the results are certain: Agreement was reached between the parties concerning the definition of the bargaining unit for Adjunct 1's and the names of those individuals who were covered by it on March 27, the date QUFA applied for certification. In the end 218 names were agreed upon. Although some individuals differed, this was the same number that QUFA originally proposed should be on the voters list; the Administration had suggested 611. This agreement finally allowed two things to happen: Firstly it meant that QUFA could establish that more than 40% of those eligible to be in the Bargaining Unit had signed cards, the number required in law to proceed to a Certification Vote. Secondly it meant that the certification vote taken on April 3, 2003 could be counted. The vote was overwhelmingly in support of certification. 76% of eligible votes cast were in favour.

In short QUFA will now be the certified bargaining agent of the adjunct 1 group. This IS a major step in the ongoing development of QUFA. Since its inception QUFA has included and has worked in the interests of a diverse group of people on campus involved in the delivery of academic programs, not just regular faculty but Adjunct faculty of various types, as well as librarians and archivists. We have never been an organisation devoted solely to looking after the interests of the tenured and tenure stream faculty, but one devoted to the interests of as many people as possible who are involved in the academic side of the functioning of Queen’s. Now we have the ability to better realise some of the goals we have always set ourselves of protecting academic integrity, preserving academic quality, resisting casualisation of academic delivery, and maintaining academic freedom. Now we have extended and considerably enhanced our ability to provide protection and assistance to the last group of teachers in the university who had remained outside the Bargaining Unit and without the benefit of a Collective Agreement, the Adjunct 1's: basically those who do the same job as many already in the bargaining unit but who simply teach less than the two full courses required to belong to it. This IS a major development and many practical questions remain to be resolved. The Adjunct 1's will be certified as a separate bargaining unit within QUFA but how precisely the organisation will function, how matters of governance and constitution, of finance and operation will work remain to be resolved. We have taken steps to ensure that adequate facilities and staff support will be available in the QUFA office (we will be hiring a new part time person in the summer) but how exactly everything will work out we cannot at this stage be sure. We are entering a period of considerable thought and discussion over the summer and into next fall which will require a lot of input from the Adjunct 1's themselves as well as from our regular members either individually or through Council, Executive, and working groups. All this thought and discussion will culminate in bargaining and a new Collective Agreement for the Adjunct 1 group. Clearly this didn’t happen without a great deal of dedication and work on the part of a considerable number of people. Elaine and Rhonda in the QUFA office were considerably burdened and thrown into turmoil, Constance Adamson and Allan Manson took on all manner of extra work, and many other individuals did invaluable work for us; but above all Susan Lord, the Chair of PACC came forward and devoted hours and hours in her already busy schedule and really carried this whole initiative through to completion. We owe them all and especially Susan many, many thanks. And, of course one of the best ways to thank them is to volunteer time and thought to spread the load....

It should probably be noted that the Administration were quite quick and willing to enter negotiation on the Adjunct 1 issue as soon as this was legally possible and as soon as it became clear from the voter turn out that QUFA’s initiative was likely to succeed. It is important to remember that the certification of Adjunct 1's has not been bitterly or even determinedly resisted by the Administration but that this has gone ahead in the spirit of co-operation which has generally marked our relationship over the past few years. This is good and we hope it will continue. But there have been some troubling signs in other areas and some serious potential difficulties lie ahead. We have only to look around the province or the country to see what can happen all too quickly at a university when an entirely unsympathetic or determinedly obstructive administration takes control. I think some of us at Queen’s, both among the faculty and the administration have been lulled into thinking that the way things have worked at Queen’s in recent years is how things always work at universities between administration and faculty, that the sort of problems we have had are as bad as it gets. I think those people need to wake up and realise how nasty and unpleasant things can be and just how much hard work has been and continues to be required to make co-operation and respect work for the good of the whole place. Stability and harmony are not achieved without a great deal of will and effort. As you may hear in a few minutes, there have been growing difficulties in making headway in JCAA and grievance matters at times this past year. Time and considerable amounts of money have been wasted through intransigence or an unwillingness to tackle the issues and discuss compromise on the part of senior administrators. Some of those with authority to take decisions seem to have decided that the easiest thing for them is to always begin by saying No without considering the consequences. Nor do things stand still: in July we are losing the individual in the administration who has certainly done most to facilitate communication and co-operation between QUFA and the administration, Sheila Devine. Her replacement is a vital one for our future relationship. And by December the successor to Bill Leggett our Principal should be decided and known. Whatever his faults may be and those of his team, Bill Leggett himself has promoted and striven to achieve cordiality and respect between QUFA and the Administration. It is to be hoped that we are not looking back eighteen months or two years from now on the good old days. And sometime in the next few moths we will have a new provincial government: and no one is certain what exactly that will mean...

So there are many challenges ahead from outside Queen’s and inside it as well. Some we can influence, others lie beyond our power and we can only react to them as best we can. Within QUFA too there will be some adjustments to make, quite unrelated to the Adjunct 1 issue. In July I will be stepping down as President in order to take on a new role in my Department. Constance Adamson our VP will be taking over as President ten months early. I shall revert to VP and will continue to work to the same goals that I have pursued in QUFA over the past five or six years in different capacities. In closing I would sincerely like to thank everyone who has helped the Association so much over the past year and made it such a rewarding time for me.

Richard Greenfield,
President 2002-03, now Vice-President

COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES
2003-2004

QUFA MEMBERS - F.Y.I.

Special Recognition for Staff Award Nominations

This Award recognizes staff members who consistently provide outstanding contributions during their workday, directly or indirectly, to the learning and working environment at Queen's University at a level significantly beyond what is usually expected (e.g. improving the workplace efficiency, quality of worklife, customer service, problem-solving, etc.).

Further information and nomination forms are available from the University Secretariat, B 400 Mackintosh-Corry Hall or at www.queensu.ca/secretariat/staffpol.html. If QUFA members wish to nominate a staff person the deadline is Oct. 15, 2003

A FEW SPECIAL DATES TO REMEMBER

FOR YOUR BENEFITS ( 2003 - 2004)

October 31:  First Term Applications for Tuition Support Plan must be made by this date.

February 1: Applications and Receipts for Child Care Expenses for 2003 must be submitted by this date.

February 28:  Second Term Applications for Tuition Support Plan must be made by this date.

OCUFA Makes Available an
Extra Benefit to All QUFA Members:

A Special Corporate Discount Rate for GOODLIFE Fitness Club Membership

Through QUFA’s membership in the provincial umbrella organization OCUFA (Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations), all members (in the original bargaining unit and in the new Adjunct 1 bargaining unit) automatically become members of OCUFA and are eligible to join GOODLIFE fitness clubs at a deeply discounted rate. There are two GOODLIFE clubs in Kingston: an all women’s club is located at the Kingston Shopping Centre above the Loblaws store and a larger coed club is located downtown at 64 Barrack Street.

The special discount rate is not available to you at the local club; you must access it through OCUFA. For detailed information on the cost of memberships and how to register, please consult the OCUFA homepage at www.ocufa.on.ca and click on Member Services in the left hand column. Other benefits of belonging to OCUFA are also noted on this page.

(Annual memberships through OCUFA begin on November 15 each year but a deeply discounted rate is available from the 15^th of each month if you pay the correct amount according to their specific directions prior to the first of the month). The new rate for November 15, 2003 - October 31, 2004 is not yet posted. For the last 2 years the annual rate was $250.00.

QUFA
Volunteer Vacancies

Adjunct 1 Members

QUFA wants your input on bargaining, governance and other important issues which will determine negotiations for and representation of your new bargaining unit. Adjunct 1 Volunteers are needed for the Adjunct 1 Bargaining Team the Bargaining Advisory Committee and QUFA’s Council of Representatives.

Please contact the QUFA Office at #33033 or qufa@post.queensu.ca if you are interested.

Faculty, Librarians, and Archivists Members

Volunteer Required for

QUFA Observer to the Board of Trustees.

Two Year Term. Four Meetings Per Year.

Please contact the QUFA Office at #33033 or qufa@post.queensu.ca if you are interested.

Business (1 additional)
Nursing
Chemical Engineering
Pharmacology, Physiology
Drama, Film Studies, Women’s Studies, Instructional Development Centre
Policy Studies, SURP and Industrial Relations
Geological Science
Political Studies
Medicine
Psychology (1 additional)
Music

A departmental election must be held to appoint a member to the QUFA Council of Representatives. A member who wishes to serve in this capacity must be a QUFA Member. (Membership requires that a blue membership form be signed and returned to the QUFA office.)   If you have any questions, please call the QUFA office at ext. 33033.

HOUSE FOR RENT
January - June 2004

Ski, sail, swim from home! Comfortable bungalow on large treed lot at Cartwright Point, east of the city, just past Old Fort Henry. Screened porch for those warm spring days and beach access on the St. Lawrence River, with view of Wolfe Island and the first of the Thousand Islands. Two bedrooms, study, living and dining room, as well as eat-in-kitchen and three-piece bathroom, on the main floor. In the basement, second study/family room with fireplace and a laundry room with washer and dryer. Less than 5 km to downtown Kingston. Short walk to city bus.

Rent negotiable.

Contact: Vojtech Jirat-Wasiutynski, Dept. Of Art, at 544-7540 (evenings) or vj@post.queensu.ca