Over the past month, the ULFA and Board of Governors negotiating teams exchanged several letters in search of a path forward that effectively addresses the concerns noted by ULFA in our October 23, 2020 bargaining update. 

A mutually agreed path is now in place, which is based on a proposal made by ULFA in early November. The key elements of the plan, accepted by both teams, are that:

  1. Bargaining on the Collective Agreement is suspended until January 18, 2021;
  2. On January 18, 2021, the ULFA and Board negotiating teams will exchange proposals constituting a complete initial offer on all items to be changed in the Collective Agreement, including monetary issues and terms; and that
  3. The parties will resume collective bargaining no later than January 22, 2021, unless there is some unavoidable delay (for example, relating to the pandemic).

The Board team accepted the ULFA team’s proposal that in the interim, negotiations commence on a new Essential Services Agreement (ESA). More about the latter will be shared in a separate blog post. 

In the meantime, other Faculty Associations in the province are reporting on offers made by their respective administrations. We hope to say more about the current bargaining scene in a future post.