Dear members,
On Thursday, November 3rd, the Association of Part-Time Professors of the University of Ottawa (APTPUO) announced that bargaining for the renewal of their Main Unit collective agreement with the Employer has stalled.
The APTPUO negotiates three (3) collective agreements: the Main Unit, the Toronto/Windsor Unit and the OLIB Unit. Earlier this month, the parties had agreed to a tentative agreement for the OLIB Unit.
In response to the Employer’s uncompromising position, the APTPUO, who has been in a legal strike position since mid-august, has elected to implement a limited number of “work-to-rule” actions. These include, APTPUO members refraining from sharing assignment and exam results, and from responding to student emails. During this work action students’ questions will only be addressed during scheduled class times.
Our APTPUO colleagues provide essential and expert services to our university. Unfortunately, President Frémont, vice-president Doyle, and Provost and vice-president Scott’s disrespect of the past summer’s APTPUO strike vote is resulting in grave consequences for the quality of the student experience. Like all University employees, APTPUO members have gone above and beyond in fending off the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Central Administration’s attempts to capitalize on an already difficult context to bully the APTPUO into accepting less than what they deserve in their bargaining unit marks a new low point in our university’s history.
The APUO stands in solidarity with our APTPUO colleagues. During this work action, the Central Administration may call upon APUO members to assume tasks normally conducted by our APTPUO colleagues. We urge all APUO members to exercise their right to refuse taking on any such tasks. We also call upon the Employer to return to the table, to bargain in good faith, and to negotiate a fair, equitable and respectful collective agreement.
The APUO remains in close communication with the APTPUO and will continue to keep our members informed of developments and of the types of support we can provide to our colleagues.