Greetings Colleagues,
This is it! Next week will tell the tale. Do we give-in to their narrative of “a fair monetary offer and we can’t afford any more for colleges” or our narrative of “the future of education and precarious work in Ontario is at stake” – a small government expenditure Vs our students’ and children’s future.
A government that wastes hundreds of millions of dollars on projects that never materialize (Oakville and Mississauga gas plants) and is under investigation for covering up their failed expenditures, is the same government that doesn’t have an extra cent for our students’ college education.
Things to look out for this week:
Trafalgar Campus Student Rally – 10:00AM to Noon – ending with potluck lunch for Students and Faculty. Details on our website, blog, and Facebook.
Davis Campus Food Drive – bring non-perishable goods to the Strike Trailer to be distributed to students in need.
Forced Vote: Tuesday through Thursday Morning
Voting on the College Employer Council’s (CEC) contract offer will run this week Tuesday through Thursday Morning. It is an electronic vote, much to the chagrin and legal objections of our Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology – Academic (CAAT-A) and Ontario Public Service Union’s (OPSEU) objections. We tried to stop the electronic balloting by legal means – but the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB), whose offices are charged with running the vote, has hired a third-party firm to run the vote. That will absolve them of any wrongdoing if questions arise. A strong REJECT vote by us, which seems in the cards today, will limit any inclination to stuff an electronic box. So far, polling across the province is strongly in favour of REJECTing the CEC’s offer.
I sent the Voting Directions Friday Night. In short, you will get a unique pin number so that you can vote online or by phone. It will be sent to your Sheridan email account. If you are locked out of your account because your password has expired, feel free to go in and reset your password. If you are notified that you must come in to IT because it has been too long, you can phone 905-845-9430 ext 2150 to get help. We have arranged this phone assistance with Sheridan so that you can get your pin without crossing the picket line, or if you are picketing elsewhere.
Please have a look at the wonderful video by two of our Sheridan colleagues capturing our Students’ Support for Faculty in this Strike.
That’s all from me, but please read the five letters and excerpts below that cover many of the questions that have been sent to me:
1) On realistic back to work timeframes
2) Janet Morrison’s outline of rescheduling semester timelines
3) A member’s questions arising from the Thursday Rally, and my answers in red.
4) The STAR article on the Strike (missing paragraphs)
5) To the question of our loss of pay being 1/216th or 1/261st of our annual pay
______________________________
1) A Timeline For Voting - A Difference of Days
Hi everyone,
I had a very interesting discussion today with members of our picket line. We ended up discussing the possible timeline of how events could play out for us over the next week or so. The realization that the difference between going back to work with the deal the college is offering us now (which is the same deal we voted to strike on in the first place and the deal that would have very negative impacts on teachers of all stripes) and getting a negotiated deal that all faculty members would benefit from could be just a couple of days. Hear me out on this.
Right now, we are scheduled to vote between next Tuesday and Thursday. Since the vote is electronic, tabulating the results should be really quick. The OLRB could know by Thursday night what the results are. If we unfortunately vote yes to the deal, the colleges would have Friday to recall everyone back to work. We would probably be back to work on Monday with their bad deal in place.
If we reject this bad offer, the colleges would be under tremendous pressure to get a deal done. We will be at the end of the 5th week of the strike at this point. Bargaining would almost surely happen over the next few days with a deal likely being reached over the course of the weekend. From there, our union bargaining team would recommend the deal to our membership. At this point, we could all return to work before a ratification vote is held. Meaning we could be back in the class by approximately Wednesday the week following the forced offer vote.
The point of all this is to say the following: The difference between having a deal that gets us nothing good in the long or short run, negates all the work done on the picket line, lets down the students who have been fighting for us and with us, and erodes quality education, as opposed to getting a deal that will benefit so many of us, is just one or two days. Just a couple days more to make everything we have been doing worthwhile. I would argue strongly that those couple extra days are worth the gains we would make if we force the college to bargain with us in good faith.
I hope you all agree. I hope you all will share this with any faculty member you may know who is uncertain about why we must vote no. We can get what our college system needs. We just have to stand up and reject this detrimental contract. Gains for employees are never given over voluntarily. They have to be fought for. This is what we are doing now.
Adam Griffin
Full Time Professor
Brick and Stone Masonry
Conestoga College
______________________________
2) From Janet Morrison
Dear Sheridan Community,
I want to thank you for your continued patience. Everyone at Sheridan – faculty, staff, and administrators – are keen to get you back in class as soon as possible. Having heard from many of you through social media, email, voice messages and the public forums Sheridan hosted last week, I am tremendously empathetic to the consequences you’re facing on account of this labour disruption. I am very sorry that this has so significantly impacted your learning experience.
That said, and further to what I communicated at the open forums last week, I’m writing today to assure you that we remain squarely focused on modeling scenarios for semester completion. My colleagues and I have found it useful to ground this planning in the following key principles:
(i) Consistent with Sheridan’s character, we will demonstrate empathy and
accommodate, when possible, extenuating personal circumstances.
(ii) To ensure academic quality and accountability, any adjustments to
curriculum and/or assessments must respect and maintain course- and
program-level learning outcomes; and,
(iii) To demonstrate fairness, the reasonableness of adjusted expectations for
students and faculty regarding the amount of learning and assessment
will be duly considered.
ACADEMIC TERMS AND VACATION PLAN
With these as our guideposts, here is what I can now share about an extension of the fall term and the consequent impact on subsequent terms.
December Extension
With the strike having lasted four weeks, it is now clear that we must use the week of December 18 – 22 for instruction.
Holiday Closure
As per our previous communications, the holiday closure of December 23-January 1 will be observed; no classes will be delivered during this time.
January, 2018
Should students return to class on or after November 20, 2017, we will also need to use January 2, 2018 to January 8, 2018 to make up for lost instruction. This would be further extended to January 15, 2017 if the return is delayed until November 27, 2017. These extensions of the term into 2018 will ensure that course and program learning outcomes are met.
Winter Term
Scenarios for the completion of the winter term remain under development. If possible, we would like to retain the winter reading week. We hope to complete the winter term before April 30, 2018.
Some program completion plans contemplate the addition of evening and/or weekend course instruction. Further details will be communicated following consultation with faculty after the strike is resolved.
STUDENT SUPPORT
We know that these scheduling changes will present challenges for many of our students, including those who were expecting to travel or work during the break, those who were expecting to graduate in December and/or those with outstanding placement hours.
We will continue to update students as planning around these issues evolves. Further, please rest assured that Sheridan will be implementing a formal process for all students to have their unique circumstances reviewed, on a case-by case-basis, to ensure they are treated fairly, and with respect.
I appreciate that living through the strike has been difficult; recovering from it will be challenging too. Our learning community, however, is resilient, resourceful and compassionate. I am confident that we will navigate the path ahead … together.
In the interim, please continue to send us your questions and concerns; they help us reflect on what we’re doing, and where there are gaps. As always, we will do our best to respond promptly, and as transparently as possible.
Warm regards,
Janet Morrison
Provost and Vice President, Academic
______________________________
3) Letter from Sheridan Faculty member
Hi Jack:
Thanks so much for organizing the meeting last night. Yes, it was inspiring to be in the same room with so many colleagues.
In the era of no faculty offices (at my campus), no lunch room, and strange scheduling (one class per day) that discourages contact with colleagues, the strike has reminded me of the importance of our community of workers and the unity of our faculty community – part timers, partial load and full timers. We must not allow management to divide us.
I just have one follow-up question after the meeting. Based on your review of the college’s offer at the meeting, am I correct in understanding that any [or all?] of the following could happen under the forced contract, if we do not vote NO?
1. The college could replace any/all current full-time positions with contract positions via Article 2.04 i. [the ‘uberization’ article I mentioned]
Yes - why else remove the one Article sub-section that protects against it?
2. The college could extend semesters beyond 14 weeks
Yes, until 2019 (this is in the protocols of returning to work) - all our weeks of work can be mandated to be teaching weeks (atypical work situations cannot be grieved until 2019)
3. The college could remove Reading Weeks
Yes - see above, and .... drum roll - Sheridan has already said as much if we return to work late in November, see Janet’s letter above.
4. The college could make those of us who teach hybrid courses, receive only two hours credit for these classes instead of three hours, thereby pretending that there is no ‘third hour’ work involved in on line teaching. This will then result in us having to teach at least one more course per term.
Not yet. This is the course we were on. What the new offer does do is to prevent online (or the online portion of) teaching hours from accurately reflecting the work involved. Three hours of classroom teaching cannot be achieved in three hours online. One of the pioneers in online teaching at Sheridan, who is now retired, did a study amongst her colleagues and literature on the subject, and reported as much to the Union College Committee. They were not amused.
When the strike began, I admit I sometimes wondered why we were doing this at this moment, especially in the face of Bill 148 which will make equal pay for equal work a requirement in 2018. Why not wait for the law to change, then grieve – or strike- when the college does not follow the law? I thought the change in law would help the large number of partial loaders.
Now to my absolute horror, I see that the colleges’ plan may be to turn ALL of us into contract workers [2.04 i] That way there would be equal pay. We would all be on contract.
YES
Now it makes sense that they have offered something to partial load workers. We are all about to become partial load. Then the colleges will comply with Bill 148 – we will be paid equally, as contract workers, with equal lack of job security.
In this case, it’s really important that we win the hearts and minds of the current frustrated partial loaders, not only at Sheridan, but across the system, where some colleges have fewer full time workers than Sheridan. Maybe they feel this contract would offer them something more – a bit more respect - when they are treated so badly by the system. Maybe they have existed so long in the Uber academic economy that they have given up, and think the minority (full timers) are a bunch of ‘Fat CAATS’ anyway. (I’ve heard this sentiment expressed.)
In the last few days we need to turn that view around, and provide the hope that rather than ALL of us becoming Uber workers, there is a good chance that by rejecting this horrifying forced offer, many or most of the current partial loaders will have a fair chance of getting on full time. As one of our colleagues pointed out, we need to stand together, not allow management to divide and conquer, or bust us apart. .
I have nothing to gain from this strike (I’m near the end of my working days), but as Kevin’s moving collection of photos pointed out, it is important that we try our best to pass on something to the next generation of teachers - something more than standing at the factory door begging to be picked for the work, and something more than the equivalent of a battered Uber taxi with no insurance.
Let’s show our students there is hope for their futures in the workplace. Let’s stand united – partial load and full-time teachers - and vote NO together.
4) The STAR article on the Strike:
The last two paragraphs of the print edition are not included in the online version. They are quite insightful:
“David Doorey, a labour and employment expert at York University, said the forced vote can "poison the bargaining climate" if their offer is rejected, and create divisions among staff if it is approved.
It can, he added, "be an effective divide and conquer strategy."
And in my opinion - this has been in the CEC’s long-range plans since grabbing the forced vote from us and moving the contract expiry date to September 30 back before 2010. Those two seemingly harmless changes have been weaponized in this round.
5) To the question of our loss of pay being 1/216th or 1/261st of our annual pay
Item number 1 in their proposal indicates that striking faculty’s salaries will be deducted by 1/216 of the annual salary for each working day of the stoppage. This is an attempt to quantify the salaries not to be paid to faculty during the strike.
The problem is that the correct number should be 1/261, not 1/216. The 1/216 number means, that should there be a yes “Accept” vote, the college will deduct an additional 20.8% of your lost salary.
The 261 number comes from the number of faculty working days in a year as described in the SunLife benefits book (http://www.local244.ca/_
The 2006 Return to Work protocol, shows the amount of salary deduction as 1/261.The effect of this difference (having 1/216 of your salary deducted versus having 1/261 of your salary deducted) is shown in the following Punitive Cost Of 2017 RTW Table, for faculty at each salary step.
STEP
|
ANNUAL $
|
2006(261)
|
2017(216)
|
2017 PENALTY
|
# OF DAYS
|
TOTAL $
|
21
|
$106,853
|
$409.40
|
$494.69
|
$85.29
|
24
|
$2,047
|
20
|
$104,034
|
$398.60
|
$481.64
|
$83.04
|
24
|
$1,993
|
19
|
$101,213
|
$387.79
|
$468.58
|
$80.79
|
24
|
$1,939
|
18
|
$98,392
|
$376.98
|
$455.52
|
$78.54
|
24
|
$1,885
|
17
|
$95,573
|
$366.18
|
$442.47
|
$76.29
|
24
|
$1,831
|
16
|
$92,751
|
$355.37
|
$429.40
|
$74.03
|
24
|
$1,777
|
15
|
$89,931
|
$344.56
|
$416.35
|
$71.78
|
24
|
$1,723
|
14
|
$87,100
|
$333.72
|
$403.24
|
$69.52
|
24
|
$1,669
|
13
|
$84,272
|
$322.88
|
$390.15
|
$67.27
|
24
|
$1,614
|
12
|
$81,442
|
$312.04
|
$377.05
|
$65.01
|
24
|
$1,560
|
11
|
$78,612
|
$301.20
|
$363.94
|
$62.75
|
24
|
$1,506
|
10
|
$75,783
|
$290.36
|
$350.85
|
$60.49
|
24
|
$1,452
|
9
|
$72,955
|
$279.52
|
$337.75
|
$58.23
|
24
|
$1,398
|
8
|
$70,126
|
$268.68
|
$324.66
|
$55.98
|
24
|
$1,343
|
7
|
$67,298
|
$257.85
|
$311.56
|
$53.72
|
24
|
$1,289
|
6
|
$64,469
|
$247.01
|
$298.47
|
$51.46
|
24
|
$1,235
|
5
|
$61,638
|
$236.16
|
$285.36
|
$49.20
|
24
|
$1,181
|
2006 = ANNUAL SALARY / 261
| ||||||
2017 = ANNUAL SALARY / 216
| ||||||
2017 PENALTY = 2017 - 2006
| ||||||
TOTAL $ = DIFFERENCE AT TIME OF VOTE
| ||||||
Therefore, the effect of a YES vote will be an additional surcharge on faculty for participating in the Strike. Remember, the Management Offer is a legally binding document and colleges will be bound to follow the terms of the new collective agreement as put forward by the colleges and the College Employer Council.
Hope this helps - VOTE REJECT,
Jack
Jack Urowitz,
President, OPSEU Local 244
Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065