SAFA Bargaining Update
Hi Everyone:
Since my January Bargaining Update, we met with SAIT on January 31, February 21, 28 and March 7. We’re committed to meet on an accelerated basis for bargaining – barring unforeseen circumstances – in order to successfully conclude this bargaining by bringing a memorandum of agreement for you to ratify.
Also during this period, SAFA engaged with SAIT to negotiate the Voluntary Departure Incentive Program (VDIP). I must say that there was a robust debate regarding the max payout being 26 weeks – we would have preferred more – but this was the best we were able to achieve. In the end, we felt it would be a disservice to SAFA membership to walk away from this program and deny the opportunity to those members who may wish to participate.
In addition to the areas I spoke of in my last bargaining update, we’ve made some progress in the area of Section 19 Disciplinary Action and have given SAIT our comprehensive proposals on Section 16 Position Abolishment and Section 18 Performance Reviews.
There new changes to the area of Maternity / Parental leave that will have impacts on the current provisions in our collective agreement, but I’m sure we’ll find agreement on this matter.
Looking forward, we’re going to dedicate whole day sessions to the topics of Scholarly Activity, Fee for Service and Workload.
However, we remain far apart on salary.
As always, please feel free to stop by the SAFA office N201 in the Burns Building or contact me directly – ext 4067 – or via e-mail [email protected] if you have any questions or comments.
In solidarity
Al