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Bargaining Update No 10

12 December, 2024 |

Collective Bargaining – Next Steps

Since receiving a strong strike mandate on November 14, the APUO’s Negotiation Team invited the Employer to resume bargaining ahead of the conciliation scheduled on January 15, 16 and 17. The Employer has agreed to meet and the parties are discussing options for January.

Questioning the Employer’s Budget Priorities

Over the course of five months of collective bargaining, the Employer has repeatedly asserted that the university’s precarious financial situation makes it impossible to respond favourably to APUO Members’ key proposals. During a December 3 Board of Governors meeting, the Employer gave a budget update for 2024-2025. The Employer is budgeting for a $36.5 million deficit and continues to insist that a “tightening of the belt” remains necessary to balance the budget in 2026-2027.

Meanwhile, in an email received from uOttawa Secretary-General on November 22 and entitled “Survey for the Selection of the Next President and Vice-Chancellor,” APUO Members learned that “the University of Ottawa is pleased to collaborate with Boyden in the recruitment of the next President and Vice-Chancellor.” The practice of hiring head-hunting firms is used for upper administration hirings and is reflective of yet another poor budgeting decision on the part of the Central Administration. When there is a crisis, the Central Administration asks us to re-evaluate priorities. This narrative has also been used to justify austerity measures on campus for years, including 5% budget cuts across all services and faculties in 2022-2023 and hiring freezes in 2023-2024 (despite recording a $29.8 million surplus this same year). Yet the administration sees fit to spend on external services for an opaque process rather than capitalize on the in-house knowledge, experience and skills of its campus community, whose services could be used without additional cost to the benefit of an open, more democratic process.

The Employer wants to have it both ways; they expect the campus community to simply accept budget cuts in our university mission while pushing through their own expenses unquestioned and unchallenged. While we are asked to do more with less, the Employer continues to spend millions on questionable priorities such as implementing Workday, or hiring external head-hunters for a process we have been asking to be a part of since the start of this round of collective bargaining. Since June, the APUO has been proposing an alternative, far more democratic and cheaper, mode of selecting the uOttawa President and Vice-Chancellor. The response we have received to all our democratic governance proposals so far is a categoric “no.” The Employer has instead opted to consult members via a short survey sent by email. In the absence of a democratic mechanism, we encourage you to use this survey to communicate your suggestions, preferences, and key requirements for the ideal candidate. The survey closes December 16th.

Preparing for the Possibility of a Strike

The APUO continues to prepare for the possibility of a strike in 2025. The Board of Directors (BoD) has passed a Work Action Policy and the Executive Committee has started to recruit members to a number of related committees and sub-committees.

The Work Action Policy provides information and guidance to members if a strike or lockout occurs during the collective bargaining process. This policy explains the provisions for strike pay and eligibility, strike work and picket shifts, as well as how various leaves will be handled in the event on a strike.

The following Ad Hoc Strike Committees and Sub-committees have been created and have begun work on their respective mandates:

  • Work Action Committee
  • Strike Finance Committee
  • Strike Communications Committee and the following sub-committees:
    • Member Communications Sub-Committee
    • Media Relations Sub-Committee
    • Social Media Sub-Committee
  • Membership Engagement Committee
  • Picket Line Services Committee
  • Strike Services Committee and the following sub-committees:
    • Food and Beverages Sub-committee
    • Strike Headquarters Maintenance and Supplies Sub-committee
    • Transportation Sub-committee

APUO in the Media

The APUO and its members have succeeded in slowly escalating pressure on the Employer in demanding a collective agreement that reflects our priorities. Alongside these mobilization efforts, media also plays an important role in adding pressure on the Employer. Over the course of the Fall Semester, the APUO increased its media efforts. Below, you can find a round-up of the APUO’s bargaining coverage1 since negotiations first started:

Members Vote 80.9% in Favour of Strike Mandate

October 30 Rally to Take Back our University

Majority-Petition Signed by 74% of APUO Members

General Coverage

1. Unfortunately, certain radio and television segments were not archived online. CBC News Ottawa included a segment about the October 30 rally in their evening news report that same day. The APUO was also interviewed by CKCU FM on November 3.