Formal negotiations between CUASA and Carleton, which began on May 8, 2012, continued throughout June.

The parties will reconvene for negotiations on July 3, 4 and 5.

Sincerely,

Lise Labine
Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources)

The third and final element of the stepped approach to collective bargaining between CUASA and Carleton began on May 8 with the commencement of formal negotiations, which continued on May 9 and 11. The parties will reconvene for negotiations throughout June.

Sincerely,

Lise Labine
Assistant Vice-President (Human Resources)

During the two days of discussions, the CUASA and Employer teams considered ways that improvements might be incorporated into the 2012 collective agreement. Working together, the teams considered a variety of stakeholder viewpoints and perspectives on the issues.

These facilitated discussions allowed the two teams to advance the process of bargaining in a different way from what we have done in past. It permitted the two sides to exchange ideas in a new manner — one which hopefully will be fruitful in the days ahead.

The CUASA and Employer teams will meet for regular bargaining starting May 8, 2012 and have scheduled further bargaining days thereafter.

Dr. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera
Department of History
on behalf of the CUASA bargaining team

Dr. Jerry Tomberlin
Dean Sprott School of Business
on behalf of the  Management bargaining team

We began our discussions with the issue of workload and how this matter has been of concern to CUASA members for several rounds of negotiations. We had a fruitful discussion, which touched upon the need for informed conversations based on solid data and possible solutions that have been considered both at Carleton and at other institutions.

We discussed many ways that the working experience of CUASA members – faculty, librarians and instructors – could be improved and we committed to exploring these in bargaining. We also had a conversation about tenure and promotion at Carleton and how it could be improved so that it is fair and equitable, clear, and collegial.

We acknowledged that there are many areas in which the two parties can work together to make changes to the collective agreement between CUASA and the employer so that it is more reflective of the need for improvements in workload, tenure and promotion.

We have agreed to continue these discussions for another two days before moving on to regular bargaining.

Dr. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera
Department of History
on behalf of the CUASA bargaining team

Dr. Jerry Tomberlin
Dean Sprott School of Business
on behalf of the  Management bargaining team

Both CUASA and the administration recognize that it is hard to find time at the bargaining table to deal with difficult and complex issues. Consequently, we have put aside some time before regular negotiations to try to address matters which are important to both the administration and CUASA’s members. With this in mind, we have agreed to engage in discussions facilitated by a mediator during the winter semester. We will use these facilitated meetings to discuss the principles underlying issues including workload, and tenure and promotion.

This stepped approach provides a better forum for both parties to explore such issues because, in addition to the presence of a third-party facilitator, the discussions are without prejudice or precedent. This enables us to improve our communications and to more fully understand one another’s perspective. After these stepped discussions are complete, we will continue with traditional bargaining where it is expected that proposals will be exchanged on changes to the collective agreement by both parties if applicable.  We hope this new approach will provide us with a solid foundation on which to improve our bargaining relations.

Dr. Sonya Lipsett-Rivera
Department of History
on behalf of the CUASA bargaining team

Dr. Jerry Tomberlin
Dean Sprott School of Business
on behalf of the  Management bargaining team