As you may be aware, the APUO Collective Agreement allows Members to be seconded from the APUO to occupy an academic administrative position (e.g., Dean, Vice-President, Vice-Provost, certain Vice-Dean positions). Article 17.6.3.2(d) specifies that “[u]pon the conclusion of her secondment, the Member shall be entitled to return to her former unit, and shall be entitled to the same rank, remuneration, privileges, rights and benefits… to which she would have been entitled if she had not been seconded,” and thereby reintegrate into the APUO.
In an unprecedented move, the Employer has recently refused to recognize that seconded Members who leave their administrative position have the right to return to their unionized position, as specified in article 17.6.3.2(d). In so doing, the Employer is denying seconded Members the protections guaranteed to them by the Collective Agreement and jeopardizing their employment relationship with the University of Ottawa. Despite multiple requests, President Frémont refuses to meet with the APUO regarding this serious breach of the Collective Agreement.
This situation poses a significant risk for Members who accept an academic administrator position that is accompanied by a secondment from the union, and weakens the trust that is essential to our working relationship. We have filed an association grievance about this matter and continue to press the Employer to end this flagrant injustice. Until this situation is resolved we advise members to decline any offer to assume an academic administrator position requiring secondment from the APUO. We also urge our Members who are currently on secondment to press the administration of which they are part to reconsider its position. The Employer’s action threatens job security, the bond of trust essential to the functioning of any institution, and the reputation of our university.
We will update Members about this situation in the weeks and months ahead.