Hello everyone –

Before getting down to business, we would like to welcome our new members, and welcome our returning members back.

As for current business: one important item is the process, supported overwhelmingly by our members, of looking at whether we should join another union. We have struck a committee that will address this issue in the near future. Meanwhile, we (generally myself and another board member) have met casually with a few likely prospects, who have shown quite a bit of interest. Post-secondary teachers are one of the most unionized sectors in the country, but only one or two associations representing tenure/tenure-track faculty are part of large labour organizations. Consequently, these larger organizations see an opportunity, as do we. If you’re interested in being on the committee or have thoughts about issues we should consider, please get in touch.

We are considering joining another union because the administration has been growing steadily further from having a relationship of mutual respect, trust, and cooperation with us. This phenomenon leads to the other item I wanted to raise. Questions of trust and transparency continue to cluster around the presidential review process by which Sara Diamond was appointed to a third term. Those questions — specifically about how the Chair of the Board of Governors handled the review — created the momentum for a motion to be passed at Senate on Monday afternoon that reads in part that “the Senate has no confidence in [Board of Governors Chair Ian Tudhope] as Chair of the Presidential Review Committee.”

 While this motion does not compel the Board of Governors to take concrete action, it does register the Senate’s continued concern about the review process and the state of governance at our university. And, as these matters affect all of us, we will pass along further information on this development as it becomes available.

Lastly, we continue to be very concerned that Teaching Intensive Stream has been implemented in a way that is untenable for many of our members. Consequently, we have grieved this matter and met with the Employer for a Stage Two meeting on September 30^th. We now are awaiting a formal response from them, and we will keep you updated on this situation as soon as we know more.  

Best,

Charles