CUEFA : Bargaining
CUEFA officially represents the interests of all probationary and permanent faculty members, professional librarians, laboratory instructors, and field placement coordinators. The bargaining team, negotiates with the employer the terms and conditions of employment, including salaries and benefits. Please email CUEFAbargaining@gmail.com if you any questions or concerns related to bargaining.
Please note: We need members to help out with bargaining - either with scribing duties (taking transcripts during bargaining sessions), help us out in the back with research and language changes, or providing administrative support. We are eternally grateful for the three Faculty members who have stepped up to scribe for us as well as those who work with us in the back room between bargaining sessions, but our team cannot do it alone.
If you are willing to give us a hand, please email us at cuefabargaining@gmail.com or CUEFAcomms@gmail.com and we can give you bargaining dates (as they become available) to see if you can help.
See Sidebar for links to full details of all updates.
2025 Bargaining Updates
Bargaining Update: Sept 5, 2025
The CUEFA bargaining team has four major points to relay about the ongoing Collective Agreement negotiations between CUEFA and the employer.
- As of Sept 5 we have signed about 30% of the articles. Most of these have been low stake articles with little to no change to language. We have made some gains including an improvement to the faculty hiring article, and an agreement in principle that ASO and Faculty discipline articles should be combined. We are now working on the more complex articles.
- The bargaining team is very concerned with the slow pace of bargaining. The slow pace of bargaining could have ramifications for how the administration deals with impasse in the future, opening the potential of a lockout in the summer months.
There are two principal reasons for the slow pace of bargaining.
- The administration team was unable or unwilling to meet on a regular basis.
- CUEFA and the employer bargaining teams met for only 4 full days of bargaining and two half days of bargaining between June 1 and September 1. This was despite CUEFA offering over five weeks of availability between June 1 and Sept 1.
- Moreover, we have been told that there will be no meetings in October as the lawyer leading the employer bargaining team is unavailable and the remainder of the team (Andreas Guelzow, Carla Craveiro Salvado, and Judy Kruse) are not able or willing to bargain without the lawyer’s leadership.
- The employer is very reluctant to change the status quo on many issues, especially issues that relate to job security. For instance we are encountering significant differences of opinions on a number of foundational issues, including:
- recongizing that our ASO librarians are “Academic Librarians.” To date, the employer refuses to entertain the idea that there is a difference between “Library technician” and “Academic Librarian.” This has material implications for the way the work of our librarians is recognized and evaluated, and the way the librarians offer support to engage in teaching and research.
- adding language in Article 25 (grievance) that would ensure the grievance process does not expose members to unfair treatment and/or harassment.
- recognizing Assistant Professor Appointments as “tenure track,” even while the employer accepts that Associate and full Professor positions could be defined as “tenure” positions.
- the employer refusing to address most of our concerns with the discipline articles (13 and 38).
- The bargaining team is incredibly disappointed with the employer’s views and treatment of our Academic Service Officers, particularly our Librarians. Not only are we dealing with issues at the table about the definition of the work of our Academic Librarians (see above), but we are also dealing with a fundamental disrespect for all of our ASOs at CUE. Because of this perspective our Librarians were forced to recuse themselves from being involved with the bargaining team. We will continue to advocate for ASOs and need all CUEFA members to recognize the desire of the administration to unfairly differentiate the rights and securities of faculty members and ASOs.
- The bargaining team has serious concerns with the proposed Intellectual Property Policy (which we have not yet dealt with in bargaining). We ask that all CUEFA members read the proposed policy and be informed about its implications. See that policy here: https://cuefa.ca/_docs/resources/B2025_employer-proposal_IP-policy.pdf.
Bargaining Update: July 31, 2025
Two full days of bargaining occurred in July.
- Seven articles of the Collective Agreement were discussed:
~ Article 3: Agreement Review and Amendment
~ Article 4: Recognition, Representation and Association Dues (signed off on)
~ Article 7: Initial Appointments: Faculty Members
~ Article 10: Annual Evaluation for Faculty Members (signed off on)
~ Article 15: Retirement (signed off on)
~ Article 21: Sabbatical (signed off on)
Preliminary disussions occurred regarding:
~ Article 25: Grievance and Arbitration
We encourage members to review the changes to the Collective Agreement proposed by the employer (administration). We particularly wish to draw your attention to the Intellectual Property policy proposed by the employer. Please email CUEFAbargaining@gmail.com if you any questions or concerns about this.
- As proposed by the employer, the policy would apply to all "Institutional Work". The employer specifically included in their definition of "Institutional Work" "... manuals, ... presentations ... all materials created during the lifecycle of course development (such as course architecture, course design and content and digital production), ..." .
- As proposed by the employer the policy would not apply to "Traditional Academic Work". However, the employer explicitly notes that "For clarity, all works and materials created for courses, including course architecture, course design, course presentation materials, lectures and teaching or laboratory manuals are Institutional Work, and do not constitute Traditional Academic Work." Thus, everything you develop for teaching (e.g., syllabus, lecture notes, slides, assignments) is included under "Institutional Work".
- This has important consequences as it means that under this policy proposed by the employer, with respect to all course material you develop, "all associated IP rights are owned by CUE [the employer"] (not you as the individual faculty member or ASO) and that "CUE [the employer] controls all rights to this content, including the rights to ... share" with anyone.
Access the employer's full proposal of changes to the Collective Agreement here
Access the employer's proposed Intellectual Property here
Two days of bargaining are scheduled for August (August 5, 6.)
Bargaining Update: June 11, 2025
First full bargaining meeting.
Despite an optimistic beginning and wording from the employer about the desire to bargain in a constructive manner, we don't anticipate there will be a rapid conclusion to negotiations.
- Each team presented opening remarks explaining their rationale and goals for bargaining.
- CUEFA's position is shared.
- Exchange of full drafts (except for monetary articles (16 & 36).
- Signed off on four Articles for which neither side made substantive changes.
Due to availability of the employer's team's spokesperson, there will be no new meeting until mid July.
Bargaining Update: May 29, 2025
Initial meeting
CUEFA met with the employer to discuss bargaining protocol.
contact