OCUFA support for CUPE 926, Wilfrid Laurier University

Dear Faculty Association Presidents and OCUFA Board Directors:

At Wilfrid Laurier University, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 926 are facing a strike or lockout deadline this Sunday, July 10. The employer has threatened to impose terms and conditions if a deal has not been reached by then.

CUPE Local 926 represents custodians, groundskeepers and tradespeople at Wilfrid Laurier University. The dispute is centered around the employer’s attempts to remove contracting out language from their agreement, and contract out custodial work making them lower paid, less secure positions. The other key issue has been the claw back of post-retirement benefits.

The imposition of terms and conditions is an unacceptable, aggressive approach to bargaining. Contracts have been imposed only twice in faculty association bargaining in Ontario. In both cases, it resulted in irreparable damage to labour relations. We are hoping that your faculty association can write to Wilfrid Laurier University urging them to uphold a higher standard of fair and respectful bargaining, which we expect across the university sector in Ontario.

This issue is of great importance to our contract faculty colleagues at Wilfrid Laurier University who are in ongoing negotiations. The imposition of terms and conditions would set a troubling precedent on their campus as they try to reach a fair agreement for their members.

This is also an opportunity to call on Wilfrid Laurier University, and universities across the province, to be model employers. In a time of growing precarious work, this means supporting more good jobs on campus, not fewer.

OUCFA President Judy Bates has sent a letter to President and Vice Chancellor Max Blouw expressing our concerns, and urging Wilfrid Laurier University to return to the bargaining table in good faith and reach a fair deal with CUPE 926. A copy of that letter is attached. Please feel free to use the text in a letter from your own association.

Best regards,

Mark

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Mark Rosenfeld, Ph.D
Executive Director
Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations
17 Isabella Street
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4Y 1M7
Tel: 416-979-2117 x229
Fax: 416-593-5607
E-mail: [email protected]
Web: www.ocufa.on.ca
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