Informal mediation between AASUA and U of A fails
There are a few possible next steps, such as formal mediation, and a strike is "not imminent," AASUA president says.
Emily WilliamsThe Association of Academic Staff at the University of Alberta (AASUA) and University of Alberta’s informal mediation on March 25–27 failed.
AASUA began the bargaining process on January 17, 2024 by sending the U of A a bargaining notice. Both parties are negotiating a renewed collective agreement. Because the U of A rejected AASUA’s proposals during negotiations, the university and union moved into informal mediation.
“We’re extremely and profoundly frustrated that the process of informal mediation … failed and failed miserably,” AASUA President Gordon Swaters said in an interview with The Gateway.
On February 27, AASUA presented a revised monetary proposal of an immediate market adjustment of five per cent to all members’ compensation, applied to earnings from July 1, 2024. The proposal also included a two-year contract with a five per cent across-the-board salary increase in both the first and second year, totalling a 15 per cent salary increase over the two-year term. In comparison, AASUA’s initial monetary proposal was a 17 per cent salary increase across the board.
AASUA also presented previously rejected monetary proposals, such as removing the two-tiered salary system for academic teaching staff (ATS). Under this system, contract-based instructors hired after June 30, 2024, are likely to be paid less than contract-based instructors hired before June 30, 2024.
Formal mediation as a possible next step, strike “not imminent”
In informal mediation, the two parties voluntarily agree to hire a third-party mediator to help with trying to reach an agreement. During informal mediation on March 25–27, Swaters said the university was “not at all prepared to bargain substantively.”
“We knew that some compromise would be required in order to come to a deal. Their representatives were simply unable to make any compromises whatsoever, so it failed.”
An update on the U of A’s bargaining website from April 8, said that three days of informal mediation occurred, and no additional meeting dates are scheduled at this time.
Swaters said that next steps include simply continuing to bargain, go through informal mediation again, or enter formal mediation. In formal mediation, the Government of Alberta assigns a government-appointed mediator.
“I want to emphasize that AASUA remains committed to the collective bargaining process. We’re not turning our back away from the bargaining table,” Swaters said. He added that, whether or not the parties continue regular bargaining or enter formal mediation, AASUA wants “to make sure that the employer is similarly committed to reaching a fair agreement.”
He added that a “strike is not imminent,” and AASUA is “still a long ways away from ever even considering a strike vote.”
“We would have to formally go through formal mediation, have it fail, then go through a cooling-off period, and then actually have a strike vote,” Swaters said.
