Bargaining Update
SAFA and SAIT last met to bargain on June 23rd. As we look to fall, we expect to resume these regular meetings with the SAIT Negotiations Team on September 15th. One of our first discussions with SAIT will be the lack of a complete proposal—to date, SAIT has not provided detailed information about the following collective agreement topics:
- SAIT deleted all references to casual employees and their benefits from their proposal, effectively eliminating this role from the institution. At the same time, they brought forward a new proposal for increased use of non-credit instruction positions with no benefits and limited protections.
- The entire professional development section was also removed. While SAIT expressed interest in re-designing the program, no details as to the impact on funding or travel were provided.
- SAIT proposed changing the current annual review process to “performance management”. In general, SAFA acknowledges the benefits of updating the performance review process but has concerns about the lack of information about the impact on the discipline process, workload, and pay progression.
- SAIT “red lined” the entire salary grid section of the current collective agreement without any additional information. This is concerning as many other institutions have tabled reductions in pay – without similar information, SAFA will be unable to calculate how this impacts workload and overtime.
- SAIT also removed entire sections on calculations for workload, overtime, and overload pay—we are still waiting for an alternative proposal.
Missing information around compensation and workload means it is very difficult for SAFA to respond to SAIT’s other proposals as these issues are all inter-related. Meaningful analysis is impossible without understanding the full picture. SAFA hopes for a productive negotiation process this fall—we look to SAIT to start this new session on a collegial note, providing the necessary information needed to bargain in good faith.
(SAFA will be returning to frequent blog updates this fall as activities resume.)
In solidarity,