Report by Jenna MacPhee, VP Teaching Assistants (Sexton Campus)
I had the privilege of going to the Canadian Association of Union Teachers (CAUT) Contract Academics Staff Conference hosted in Halifax, Nova Scotia on October 2nd-3rd, 2026. There were contract staff members from across Canada in the room which allowed for a diverse conversation on the struggles and big gains that contract academics have and continue to face at various institutions. The two-day conference was split into two sections. Day one consisted of
roundtable discussions and panelists speaking on issues they have faced and obstacles that they have overcome as contract academics and unionists. Day two consisted of workshops and discussing things in small groups amongst peers and drawing on people’s experiences to work through different situations. It also allowed us to choose a workshop which consisted of writing op-d’s, social media posts, an email to your union members or a press release.
Day one of the conference began with three panelists. The discussion was around international dimension of precarious academic work. Two of the panelists were from Europe, Janne Gleerup from Denmark and Mark Pendleton from the United Kingdom (UK). Both Gleerup and Pendleton discussed how contract hours work in their respected countries. Gleerup noted that temporary and contract work in Denmark is common for PhD’s when they finish, some stay and
some leave. Gleerup noted that for a PhD graduate after 6 years, they are still in contract or temporary work terms hoping for more but with little to no progress. Funding has shifted in Denmark, as core funding fell and grant funding took over. Gleerup stated that private funding has increased but public funding has stayed the same while the government and public have little to no desire or care for the conditions of precarious workers. Institutions in Denmark are also unwillingly to hire on a long-term contract because of unknowns funding. This is relatable within our local as much of the public does not understand when we strike, what we are striking for. This last round of bargaining for all the CUPE 3912 units does seem to have changed that. In the
UK the Labour government is attempting to help contract worker but it is not enough. Pendleton notes that there are two types of fixed term staff, teaching and research. Precarity is a concern for many in the UK as tenure contracts do not exist in the UK as they do in Canada. Pendleton mentions that bargaining in the national framework does not get workers many gains but bargaining at the local level gets more including enhanced job security and health benefits. These two perspectives were interesting as it shows that public funding has not increased and that this issue is not isolated to Canada.
Another panel later in the day discussed making gains for contract academic/academic staff at the bargaining table. Theses panelists offered key gains made during their recent rounds of bargaining. Katerina Allan, our own CUPE 3912 VP for MSVU, offered her insight into bargaining and how it was to be at the table with the employer. Several gains were made during bargaining for MSVU last fall, including the removal of the bottom pay scale which the employer had been exploiting. This made it so that two pay scales instead of three were in the new collective agreement. Hinderance’s to their bargaining included the faculty association bargaining first which led to a lag in CUPE 3912 MSVU bargaining. Something similar occurred at Dalhousie, where Dalhousie’s CUPE 3912 unit was in bargaining and had met a few times before the Dalhousie Faculty Association’s (DFA) contract was up in the summer of 2025. Once the DFA’s contract was up, the employer immediately switched to concentrate on them and pushed contract negotiations with CUPE 3912 to the side and refused to meet with CUPE until the DFA’s contract was finally negotiated after the administration locked them out.
This seems to be a tactic used by various employers across the country, but some institutions, associations and unions are trying to get similar gains that can be continuously built upon. Dwayne Meisner, from the University of Regina, talked about those that are at the college and those at the university. Each time the college or university associations bargain, they add to was what was existing before and looking at other collective agreement on the campus. For instance, there was a lack of a teaching performance review, Meisner has been a sessional instructor under the University of Regina Faculty Association (URFA) since 2015, his first performance review was on September 29th, 2026. The process now is that sessional instructors need to be reviewed
every 3 years according to the CA. The sessional review process for Luther College (on the University of Regina’s campus) is similar, but they took it a step further and put in their CA that a negative review gives the sessional instructors a chance to still improve, it does not mean automatic removal from the priority list. Thus, allowing for each new CA to help each other build on what was existing before, if one union or association can get it from the employer, it
makes it possible for the other union or association to get it as well. This seems as though it is something that we could strive to do within our institutions.
I gained a wealth of information from the conference and knowing that others from various institutions are feeling the same is both validating and scary. Precarity is not for the faint of heart, but we do it because we love what we do and we love teaching our students. The conference gave me a chance to speak with other members of associations and unions, allowing me to improve on my knowledge in the hopes I will be able to better support our members generally, support members against our employer and gain insights into important protections that will be useful in our next round of bargaining.