SMU Part-Time Faculty Bargaining Updates

The current collective agreement is in effect until August 31, 2024.

Updates

March 2, 2024: Results are in! We have a bargaining mandate. All of the proposals have been approved by the majority. Thank you to everyone who participated. Your comments and suggestions are appreciated!

February 20, 2024: As a result, from the discussion of the proposals at the information session, and from suggestions sent by members who couldn’t attend the meeting, a couple of new proposals have been added.The final proposals were brought to the membership for approval on this date. Members have the opportunity to vote on each proposal that will be presented to the Employer. The poll closes on March 1st.

After the vote, the next step in the bargaining process is to give notice to bargain.

February 16, 2024: we had a hybrid information session to discuss the bargaining proposals. After feedback and potential revisions by the bargaining team to the proposals, SMU PT Faculty members will have the opportunity to vote online to provide a Bargaining Mandate for our goals.

February 12, 2024: The SMU bargaining team has finished preparing a draft of proposals for the next round of bargaining to negotiate our collective agreement.

Our Fall survey results indicated that wages, job security and benefits remained a core priority for most SMU PT Faculty members. Notably, CUPE 3912 members at SMU are the only employee group with no choice or options for access to health and pension benefits. With the support of CUPE National and by way of conversations with other unionized workers and locals on campus, the SMU negotiating team has been looking into options around access to benefits that we will present at a unit meeting where we will also discuss the bargaining proposals that the SMU PT Faculty Negotiating Team has developed.

January 30, 2024: The SMU bargaining team has been developing a series of different proposals regarding the salary scale (see Schedule A in the Collective Agreement) based on the results of the Fall 2023 Survey. Salary is the primary issue and number one priority for SMU PT faculty, and members are willing to strike for better pay. While we were able to win some substantial increases last round, our stipends remain among the lowest in the Atlantic region, and the lowest for undergraduate universities in the country. We remain well below the median salary.

A survey was sent this day to SMU members for their feedback on this issue in order to guide our discussions and decision-making, and to consolidate our bargaining proposals. We’re stronger collectively, and we look forward to building our collective power together.

December 19, 2023: In January, we will be holding a membership meeting for SMU PT Faculty to present the top priorities the negotiating committee has identified for this round of bargaining through the survey, the review of past grievances, issues and complaints as well as a revision of the collective agreement. At this meeting you will have the opportunity to ask questions, offer opinions and express concerns so that revisions can be done before the membership votes to approve the bargaining mandate.
Once we have secured approval of these priorities, the negotiating committee will work on the contract language of the proposals, and will give notice to the administration of our intent to start negotiations. Together we can negotiate a strong collective agreement!

September 21, 2023: Tanya Bilsbury and Neil Balan were elected as the new members for the SMU Negotiating Committee. We thank the other candidates who participated in the election and look forward to working with them as part of our mobilization efforts. To prepare for the next round of bargaining the negotiating team will gather information through members surveys and meetings, review of past grievances and the current collective agreement to identify the top priorities and needs of SMU members. We look forward to getting your input!