Split widens in BU talks
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!
As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.
Now, more than ever, we need your support.
Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.
Subscribe Nowor call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.
Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on brandonsun.com
- Read the Brandon Sun E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
*Your next Free Press subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/11/2011 (5392 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Brandon University strike has crossed the 40-day mark and both sides are expressing frustration following their latest meeting.
Administration and members of the Brandon University Faculty Association met on Friday, and according to BU president Deborah Poff, the two sides are now “even further” from reaching an agreement.
“Our team walked in and were presented with a significant increase of now a new proposal, at the very end,” Poff said. “It was a bit of a surprise. We really thought we were close.”
Poff said new expenses introduced by BUFA were part of the union’s back-to-work protocol.
“We were presented with a significant increase in demand for financial compensation for every day that members would need to work to catch up for lost time in the classroom,” Poff said.
For example, if the term was extended to the end of January and 21 instructional days were required, the cost to the university would be more than $1.4 million, Poff explained.
BUFA secretary Bill Paton said they simply used the 2008 back-to-work protocol as framework.
“If we’re going to have to teach for the rest of the term, we weren’t paid for that,” Paton said.
“So we have a proposal … that, in fact, they’ll give us some compensation for that. They’ve saved over $2 million already on this strike, we just want to be paid for the work that we haven’t been paid for.”
There is a $200,000 difference between parties in the second year of the agreement.
The union’s position was to see salaries increase by one per cent in year one, two per cent in year two, three per cent in year three and three per cent in year four.
They are also seeking a $3,000 lump sum payment as back-to-work compensation.
According to Poff, the university has offered a four-year wage package which includes an increase of one per cent in year one, one per cent in year two, and three per cent in years three and four, plus an $1,800 signing bonus per striking member.
But Paton says they haven’t seen that in writing.
“We haven’t seen that four-year proposal from them,” he said. “The final proposal was one, one, three.”
Paton said the collective agreement is “extremely close.”
“It would be, in my mind, bizarre to hang out as (BU chief negotiator Grant Mitchell) seems to want to do until Dec. 12 … for the sake of one per cent, which is minuscule, and $220,000 in a $45-million budget is nothing.”
There have been no classes for the university’s 3,000 students since professors began picketing on Oct. 12.
At issue are wages, benefits, working conditions and contract language.
» jaustin@brandonsun.com