The union representing faculty at Western University is preparing for possible strike action next week by members, but says it hopes that a last-minute deal can be reached with the university before then.
Roughly 1,500 faculty members, librarians and archivists represented by the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) will be in a legal strike position as of 12:01 a.m. Sunday.
The two sides are set to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday and Friday in a last-ditch attempt to hammer out a new collective agreement.
The union’s board of directors is expected to meet on Thursday to decide whether to move forward with strike action and to decide on a strike deadline, said Hiran Perinpanayagam, UWOFA’s president.
“At this stage, it seems quite likely that strike action is a very real possibility,” he said on Wednesday.
“The earliest would be Monday morning for labour disruption, because of the need to make progress in negotiations this week, unless we can reach a deal in the next few days, which is uncertain.”
According to Perinpanayagam, the union has been prepping this week for a potential strike, moving its offices to a building on Colborne Street that will serve as a strike headquarters.
In addition, a labour disruption protocol has been agreed to between UWOFA and Western, and portable toilets have been placed around campus where picket lines are expected.
At least 91 per cent of UWOFA members voted in favour of strike action in September in the months-long talks, which began over the summer after the union’s previous collective agreements expired on June 30.
Progress in the talks has been slow, Perinpanayagam says. The union has stated previously that it’s seeking improvements related to working conditions and workloads, faculty benefit access, and “precarious employment for contract faculty.”
Perinpanayagam notes that the province’s controversial Bill 124 caps public sector wage increases at one per cent per year over three years, compared to the 1.7 per cent increase UWOFA members had in their previous agreement. Canada’s annual inflation rate sits at 6.9 per cent.
“Going forward in the next three years, we will be constrained to 1 per cent, which then amounts to effectively a 25 per cent pay cut for our faculty given current rates of inflation,” he said.
“So what we are looking for is (that) all of the non-monetary areas, as well as… items like benefits, professional expense reimbursements — areas that are outside the constraints of Bill 124 — are adequately addressed.”
The union, he says, is looking for improved job security and access to health benefits for part-time faculty, as well as an overall increase in faculty numbers to deal with growing workloads as Western boosts enrolment.
The university unveiled in its strategic plan last year that it planned to balloon its enrolment to 50,000 by the end of the decade. In 2021-21, Western had roughly 37,000 students, including full-time undergraduates and graduates, and those who were part-time FTE (full-time equivalent).
“There has not been an increase in faculty or even staff numbers to support this increase in enrolment,” Perinpanayagam said, charging that the university has failed to reinvest in its academic mission.
Western, he argues, is in a strong financial position, with reported annual budget surpluses running back to at least 2010. The university reported an operating surplus of $128.7 million for its 2021-22 fiscal year, and $231 million for 2020-21.
In addition, the union estimates Bill 124 will save the university at least $4.8 million in savings over the next three years in faculty wages compared to the previous agreement.
Global News contacted Western University for comment, but did not receive a response by publishing time.
“We’re looking at colleagues who are teaching classes as large as 3,000 students. Many of their first or second-year classes at Western, the undergraduate classes, particularly in the Faculty of Social Science and other schools, are around 1,000 students in a class,” Perinpanayagam says.
“We need to ensure that Western adequately addresses these challenges with supports. We need to have some reassurance that there will be adequate supply of TAs and staff supports for marking and grading and supporting the class environment.”
A union bargaining update this week showed the university had rejected at least 25 of UWOFA’s 57 proposals, three of which the union later withdrew. Two proposals have not seen a response, including one seeking health benefits for part-time faculty.
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