Legal strike position expected week of Oct. 7: UWOFA
The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) asked a provincially appointed conciliator to file a “no-board” report with the ministry of labour on Sept. 13.
Conciliator Greg Long received the request following 16 days of negotiations since May, says UWOFA.
UWOFA requested the report after the negotiating team presented the employer with a package of proposals that showed significant movement on its part, says the association.
The employer rejected the package outright, explicitly reaffirming its desire to practice “tight fiscal constraint” in order to set a precedent for all other employee groups on campus, says UWOFA.
“UWOFA believes that thoughtful, comprehensive investment in the highly skilled people who staff our library system can only improve the quality of education and research at Western overall,” says John Ciriello, UWOFA president. “Our negotiating team remains committed to pursuing a fair and equitable settlement, and it is our hope that this ‘no-board’ request will help spur progress at the negotiating table.”
A “no-board” request does not mean that negotiations have ended and the two sides continue to meet, says UWOFA.
Members of the bargaining unit voted 97 per cent in favour of giving the negotiating team a strike mandate. UWOFA anticipates being in a legal strike position by the week of Oct. 7, says the association.
