ATHABASCA – Negotiating teams for Athabasca University (AU) and the Athabasca University Faculty Association (AUFA) have both filed labour practice complaints against each other after failing to agree on how to proceed with the latest bargaining agreement.
In a Sept. 16 blog post, AUFA’s bargaining team posted copies of the two complaints that were filed in court, which executive director Richard Schamehorn confirmed were accurate.
Negotiations between the two parties started on a tense note, with AU preferring to negotiate in person, and AUFA preferring a virtual setting. When both parties met for their first bargaining session, AU’s team showed up in person, while AUFA's team all attended virtually.
During the June 28 initial meeting, AU put forward a proposal which did not include monetary terms, which AUFA’s team deemed unacceptable. According to both parties, AUFA wanted to start with monetary terms, while AU wanted to exhaust the rest of negotiations first.
Following the initial meeting, both parties met again on Aug. 20, with further discussion over the initial proposals taking place. After hearing the university’s position on when it would present its monetary proposal, AU said AUFA ended the session 90 minutes in.
On Aug. 21, AU sent a follow-up email explaining its position, which is attached to its complaint, and AUFA said they would respond in the week of Aug. 25 after internal discussion.
On Aug. 22, AUFA informed its membership it would not be bargaining with AU until the monetary proposal was tabled. Later that day, AU filed its complaint, wherein it alleged AUFA had engaged in bad faith negotiations by refusing to meet further without the monetary proposal, pointing to the two short sessions as evidence.
“There is clearly an opportunity for rational discussion to be had and progress to make in negotiations,” said AU’s team in its complaint. “The placement of a pre-condition to bargain constitutes a failure to meet and bargain in good faith and make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement.”
AUFA responded with a Sept. 11 complaint, which alleges unfair labour practices on behalf of the university. Unlike its employer, AUFA is looking for more serious action from the labour board, with a request for the board to order AU to table its monetary policy.
“The university’s lack of transparency and refusal to table its monetary proposal undermines the association’s ability to properly and fairly evaluate the university’s other proposals and imposes an unreasonable and bad faith roadmap of bargaining,” read the complaint.
