In This Issue...

President's Report

Dear Colleagues,

QUFA continues its work implementing the Collective Agreement. The Joint (QUFA-Administration) Committee on the Administration of the Agreement is meeting every other week, and the Association continues to field numerous requests about procedures and rights under the Agreement. The other major task is implementation of the new QUFA Constitution. The Executive Committee has been supervising Council elections, and would like to thank all those who have helped out with elections in their units. Special thanks go to the Nominations and Elections Committee: Paul Young (chair), Karen Rudie, Susan Laschinger, Richard Greenfield, Paul Banfield, Ann Leevers, and Mike Baird.

The Executive is also in the process of forming standing committees, caucuses and councils as required by the Constitution. It will probably take several months to get everything in place, particularly since the summer months are a bit difficult for mobilization.

Annette Burfoot and I visited York University during a student information day, in which faculty met with students to discuss their course obligations. Student leaders spoke strongly in favour of faculty, and Dave McNally of YUFA (the York University Faculty Association) gave an excellent summary of the history of the strike. My sense was that, though faculty were frustrated by the length of the strike, things were working well structurally. YUFA was being supported by other York unions, including the part-timers and teaching assistants. Also, media coverage was becoming more balanced, although The Toronto Star persisted in quoting only the minority of students who have not sympathized with faculty. The strike has now ended, and I feel we all owe York faculty a great debt of appreciation for having fought a painful and protracted battle with implications for academic staff throughout Canada. (See "Report on York")

I also attended the CAUT Spring Council meetings. It was quite special for two reasons: Don Savage and our own Dan Soberman (Faculty of Law). Don will be leaving CAUT after a quarter century of extraordinary service as Executive Director. There was a day-long conference on academic freedom in Don's honour, as well as a banquet attended by over two hundred guests from various parts of the country and world. Dan Soberman not only spoke at the conference but was the recipient of CAUT's Milner Award for distinguished and sustained contributions in the area of academic freedom. (See "Don Savage Retires" and "Dan Soberman Honoured")

Now that the Collective Agreement and new Constitution are in place, I hope that QUFA can become more involved in the kind of lobbying and communications necessary to advance the cause of academia and the professoriate beyond our campus. As many of you pointed out in my departmental visits last Fall, there seems to be profound misunderstanding on the part of at least some of the public about the work of universities and of faculty. This has been fuelled by the media and made the basis for virulent attacks and gross underfunding on the part of politicians. In the coming year, I hope to work with people here and at other Ontario universities to improve the climate for university funding and support. If you are interested in helping out with this, please get in touch.

Since this will probably be the final QUFACTS for this academic year, let me wish you an enjoyable, successful, and long hot summer.

Frank Burke

Administration to Use Parking Fund Monies

The Queen's Administration has informed the Unity Council (representatives of the five employee groups on campus) that it will use $1M from the Parking Fund to help resolve budget shortfalls. These shortfalls result not from one-time costs, which the Board of Trustees has agreed to cover with Pooled Investment Fund revenues, but from a gap between anticipated and realized revenues in the operating budget of the University. The Unity Council has emphasized that the Parking Fund derives from monies contributed over many years by members of the five employee groups and that, consequently, the members should be involved in any decision to use the fund. The Administration has decided that such involvement is not required. QUFA regrets this and feels that it runs counter to the spirit of cooperation that characterized the deliberations of the joint Unity Council-Administration Task Force, in which a Parking Fund surplus was first discussed.

Improvements to the Queen's Pension Plan

QUFA sent the following letter to the Pension Committee as a response to the Committee's discussion paper. The table included in the letter (see below) details the financial consequences of the current plan and four other options.

Members are invited to express their own views to the Pension Committee if they wish.

We feel that Option A is well sustainable over the long term, and should be the least amount of improvement implemented.

We also feel that Option D, though attractive, might not be sustainable over the long term and could lead to greater risk and perhaps some financial strain; we therefore do not recommend this level of improvement at this time.

We feel that either Option B or Option C should be sustainable over the long term. We recognize the advantages of a further addition to the money purchase component (Option C) in terms of increased pension and also increased surplus as pressure on the minimum guarantee is reduced. On the other hand we also recognize the need to improve minimum guarantee pensions (Option B), even marginally, as those retiring on minimum guarantee pensions are in greatest need. Placing the money purchase increase only on amounts below YMPE also favours those on lower salaries.

We favour a balance of these two objectives (as with Option A) by an improvement of 1.425% plus 1.8% below and above YMPE for minimum guarantee pensions and to 6.25% and 7.0% below and above YMPE for the university contribution to money purchase accounts. This suggestion is a compromise between Options B and C. It should leave the surplus at about $20 million and require an average annual return of about 7.1%, which we feel is a reasonable expectation.

We understand that the improvements will be for future service only and will be paid for by interest from the minimum guarantee surplus, which also funds earlier improvements to the plan.

We hope that plan improvements will become effective September 1, 1997.

Table of Pension Plan Options

QUSA's Strawberry Social

Thursday, June 26, 1997 - 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

on the grounds of Summerhill (rain location Grant Hall)

Fresh Strawberries, Ice Cream, Tea Biscuits

& Beverages

Tickets are $4.00 and may be obtained by

calling the QUSA office @ Ext. 2215

The New Constitution: What does it mean?

With the adoption of the new constitution on April 15^th, QUFA members initiated a new era in the governance of our organization that provides opportunities for much increased member participation in the direction of the Association. At the unit level, members now elect one (or two, depending on unit "population" size) colleagues to the Council of Representatives, thus establishing clear and close lines of communication, as well as accountability, between the general membership and the policy-deciding body of the Association. Councillors will bring their diverse perspectives to general policy discussions and ensure that decisions are made in full recognition of the interests and concerns of the disparate faculties, disciplines and academic appointments within this University.

In addition, the officers of the Association (President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer) will be elected, in future, directly by the whole membership, by secret mail ballot, after a nomination process which requires nomination by five members, a candidates' meeting, and circulation of candidate information. (For this 1997/98 transitional year, the previous years' officers will continue to hold their positions for one more year, in order to provide some continuity while we learn to work with the new governance structure as well as the Collective Agreement).

This constitution, which has taken over a year to craft, reshape and redraft, aims to strike a balance between efficiency in managing the business of the Association (the role of the Executive) and participation in determining policies of the Association (the role of the Council). The synergy between the two bodies - each of which has members on the other - should foster new energy and broader shared vision for QUFA and its members, thus assisting QUFA in meeting its new responsibilities of representing the interests of all faculty, librarians and archivists at Queen's, both within the University and in the community at large.

Grievance Process

If you have concerns about a decision affecting your terms and conditions of employment, please read the appropriate section(s) of the Collective Agreement, discuss the Agreement and your situation with your representative on the QUFA Council, and, if you feel the issue should be pursued further, contact the QUFA office. When you contact the office, you will be put in contact with a QUFA Grievance Officer, who will provide additional advice and, if need be, take additional action. If your electoral unit has not yet provided for Council representation, contact the QUFA office once you have consulted the Agreement.

REPORT OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE TO ADMINISTER THE AGREEMENT

NOTE TO QUFA MEMBERS: From time to time we will have columns in QUFACTS that address various articles of the Collective Agreement. In this issue we are presenting information on Article 37.

ARTICLE 37 - JOINT CONSULTATIVE COMMITTEE

This article establishes a union-management committee composed of three representatives each from QUFA and the university administration, called the Joint Committee on the Administration of the Agreement (JCAA). The purpose of this committee is to develop, maintain and facilitate cooperation, mutual respect, better communications and better working relationships between the bargaining unit and the university administration; however, any matters currently being resolved through the grievance procedures are excluded.

The tasks of the joint consultative committee focus on reviewing and interpreting the Collective Agreement and carrying out any functions specifically delegated by the Collective Agreement. Examples of the latter would be the employment equity sub-committee specified by Article 32 (Equity) and the establishment of lists of mediators and arbitrators for Article 15 (Grievance).

The joint consultative committee began meeting at the conclusion of the transitional period, holding its first meeting on April 1. The committee meets as issues come up, generally every second week. The kinds of interpretative issues that have been before the joint committee include issues related to the appointments, promotion, workload, evaluation, and leaves articles of the collective agreement.

Throughout these meetings the spirit has been one of cooperation to solve problems before they become disputes.

REPORT ON YORK

The faculty strike at York University has come to an end after becoming, by far, the longest in the history of English Canadian universities. Although there were specific issues at stake, the strike was also a response to a series of administrative moves:

Although these administrative actions began over a year ago, the York University Faculty Association did not initiate job action until approximately seven weeks ago. York faculty repeatedly emphasized their willingness to negotiate and did not seek a strike vote until all other options had been exhausted. After the strike began, the York administration agreed to mediation, then refused to sit down with the Faculty Association once the mediator arrived on the scene. The administration also promised a new offer, only to renege on the promise. Only on May 2, two weeks after the mediator had been called in, did the administration agree to participate in talks.

Some of the major issues that YUFA was trying to get addressed at the table were:

Prior to abrogating the collective agreement, the York administration had committed itself to restoring step/PTR increments. But instead of honouring the commitment, the administration represented the increments in the media as a new YUFA demand and described them in terms normally applied to increases to scale. Lumping together increments and cost-of-living adjustments, the administration claimed that YUFA was seeking more than a 13% raise, whereas, YUFA was asking for 2.6% in each of the next two years.

Ultimately, the strike at York was not principally about specific bargaining issues nor even specific actions on the part of the York administration. Underlying all these was the principle of collective bargaining itself. From the moment it abrogated the collective agreement, the York administration launched a sustained attack on the York faculty's right, under law, to negotiate. In choosing to strike, York faculty were not just seeking to defend their own employment situation, they were affirming the right of faculty everywhere to co-determine the conditions under which they work.

OCUFA Response to 1997 Ontario Budget

The following is an abridged version of OCUFA's analysis of the 1997 Ontario Budget as it applies to universities.

The "R&D" [Research & Development] Challenge Fund

"There is a growing trend . . . for an increasing portion of university research to reflect private-sector needs and priorities that promote job creation and economic growth. The Research & Development Challenge Fund will promote this trend in Ontario.

--1997 Ontario Budget Papers

The most significant announcement for universities in the 1997 Ontario budget is a ten-year $3 billion "R&D" Challenge Fund. The objectives of the Fund are: to support job creation and economic growth, to promote world-class research of interest to the private sector, and to encourage more collaboration between the private sector and research institutions. The main priority of the Fund will be to attract and keep world-class researchers in Ontario.

Beginning in 1997-98, the province will contribute $50 million of new funding in each of the next ten years to fund eligible projects. One third of funding for all Challenge Fund projects must come from the private sector. To participate, universities must match the Provincial contribution in the first year of the Fund. The amount required from participants will rise over the life of the fund.

Funding will be evaluated in terms of research excellence and contribution to economic growth. A Board composed of business people, researchers, and government representatives will make the funding decisions. Board members, including the Chair, will be appointed by the Provincial Government. Investments made by the private sector in Challenge Fund projects will be eligible for the new Ontario Business-Research Institute Tax Credit. This credit will provide a 20 per cent refundable tax credit for qualifying business-sponsored research and development performed by universities.

The stated goal of this initiative is to divert internal university resources toward serving "private sector needs and priorities." The province will only match university contributions in the first year of the program. By the end of the ten-year period, universities will have to divert $1 billion of public sector education dollars to private sector driven R&D research in order to receive the full $500 million from the provincial government. The contribution expected of the universities will escalate over the life of the program. If the universities' share increases by the same dollar amount in each year of the program, by year ten, the universities will be required to contribute $150 million to receive $50 million from the province. If it increases by a constant percentage, the year ten contribution from the universities will be approximately $172 million. To put this figure in perspective, it is greater than the combined operating grants of Brock, Lakehead, Laurentian, Nipissing, Ryerson, and Trent for the current year.

This program is intended to foster competition for provincial research dollars, and move away from the provincial government's historic role of primarily supporting university research through block grants. This "approach" is particularly problematic given the refusal of the provincial government to implement the funding recommendations of the Smith Commission in this budget. Although all disciplines are eligible for funding, the Fund will be primarily targeted at natural sciences and engineering, mathematics, health sciences, and environmental sciences. Disciplines not geared toward the production of commercially viable research will have great difficulty accessing funds.

OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Plan)

As a result of massive changes to OSAP announced recently, most of the bursaries made under the Ontario Student Opportunities Trust Funds program will be required merely to provide students with funding previously provided by OSAP. A program which most donors thought would be used to increase access to university for needy students is being diverted to reduce the government's OSAP obligations. There are no criteria for the distribution of these funds, and in fact no requirement that the money be given to students with the greatest need.

Providing tax credits to employers to hire recent graduates is a blunt instrument for job creation, as there is no way to differentiate between new jobs and those that would have existed without the credit. Similar programs in the past have tended to lead to short-term contract employment which is terminated when the tax credit ends.

Milner Award: Dan Soberman Honoured

On May 3, CAUT presented Dan Soberman, Professor Emeritus in the Queen's Faculty of Law, with the Milner Award. The award was established by CAUT in honour of James Milner, a former chair of the CAUT Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee. Although it may be granted annually, the Milner Award has been given out only six times since Mr. Justice Bora Laskin received the first in 1971. The award recognizes "a distinguished contribution to the cause of academic freedom" and is given for "actions undertaken on behalf of academic freedom, or writings which contribute significantly to an understanding and strengthening of academic freedom in the Canadian community." During the award ceremony, it was noted that Professor Soberman has had a distinguished and varied career as an academic, and as an arbitrator and mediator, both within and outside Canadian academia. As an arbitrator, he has extended jurisprudence in important ways: helping determine appropriate academic standards to be used in tenure hearings, and helping define ways of distinguishing whether a complaint involving layoffs should be considered a matter of financial exigency or redundancy. Of particular relevance to the Milner Award was a highly influential report Professor Soberman wrote in 1965 on the status of tenure in Canadian Universities. He established the importance of a legal basis for tenure regulations and suggested some of the key components that universities should include in their tenure policies: a fair hearing, the right to appear and confront the accuser, the right to counsel, the right to cross-examine, and the right to a written decision with reasons.

Professor Soberman's career at Queen's and contributions to QUFA were also noted. He was a founding member of the Law Faculty and became Dean of the Law School in 1968, serving in that capacity for ten years. Throughout the years he has helped QUFA with grievances, and has committed himself to strengthening the position of adjuncts not only through grievance work but through the development of university policy on adjuncts. He was instrumental in developing Senate provisions on appointment, renewal, and tenure, and much of his work in these areas is reflected in our Collective Agreement.

In the largest sense, presentation of the Milner Award served to acknowledge Professor Soberman's career-long role in developing processes, principles, and jurisprudence which have secured and advanced academic freedom throughout Canada.

MEMBERSHIP ON QUFA AND EXTERNAL BODIES

If you notice any error or omission on these lists, please notify the QUFA Office at Ext. 2151.

REPRESENTATIVES NEEDED FOR

JOINT HEALTH & SAFETY COMMITTEES

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, employers are required to establish Joint Health and Safety Committees which must be made up of equal numbers of worker and management representatives. These committees play an important role in establishing and maintaining a well functioning Internal Responsibility System.

Recently at Queen's, an agreement was reached with all employee groups on campus to restructure the joint committees to be faculty-based committees. We also were able to reduce the total number of committees to eight from the previous thirty-four. In order to finalize the new structure, both management and the employee groups are now required to select their members for the committees.

One QUFA Representative is required for each of the following committees:

The representatives will represent QUFA from an employee perspective on each of the committees. They will play an important role in bringing health and safety issues which haven't been resolved at the department level to the faculty level committee.

Joint Health and Safety Committees will meet monthly, unless otherwise determined by the individual committee. Members will also be required to conduct workplace inspections and investigate accidents, as well as have the legal right and obligation to make recommendations to the committee to improve the health and safety programs and training that the employer is providing.

The time commitment required will vary. Individuals will be given the time away from their regular duties to meet the legal requirements as set out by the Act. Initially the Department of Environmental Health & Safety will be providing training to the committees on their roles, responsibilities, etc. Once up and running, the time involved will be much less, likely four hours per month or so maximum.

If you are interested in serving as a QUFA representative, please contact the QUFA office at extension 2151.

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Last revised: September 26, 2000
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