You can’t avoid the BU reality

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/11/2011 (5456 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Errol Black, former city councillor and retired member of the Brandon University Faculty Association, took the Brandon Sun to task on Monday in a blog post on the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives website.

In the post, he accuses the Sun of bias in our coverage of the ongoing university labour dispute, and further, that the newspaper was responsible for prolonging the strike due to our “ineptitude and ideological blinders.”

We have no wish to get into a war of words with Black. We respect his opinion as we do all our readers who happen to agree or disagree with our editorial stance. But we do suggest that he is incorrect in his assessment of our coverage.

Our reporters have routinely attempted to represent the views of all sides — students, the faculty, the university administration and the community, and we believe our news reports have been fair and accurate. But editorially, we can hardly avoid the reality of what has transpired since this strike began.

When members of the Brandon University Faculty Association concluded that the conciliation process with the university’s administration was a failure, the BUFA executive requested the appointment of a provincial mediator.

According to the Oct. 24 edition of Hansard, Manitoba Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy Erin Selby confirmed in the legislature that BUFA specifically requested for Michael Werier to be appointed as mediator, in writing.

Then, earlier this month, after the mediation process also failed, Werier delivered his report to Labour Minister Jennifer Howard, stating officially that negotiations between administration and the faculty association had reached an impasse, largely over wage increases.

It was Werier who recommended to Howard that both sides go to binding arbitration to resolve their dispute on wage increases, and either arbitrate or negotiate the remaining issues.

This stance has since been supported by the provincial government. Howard has publicly encouraged both sides to settle all remaining issues through binding arbitration, a request to which the university has promptly agreed.

But unless both sides agree to arbitration, the strike could last until Dec. 10, the date either side can ask the Manitoba Labour Board to force an arbitrated settlement.

Up until now, the BUFA executive has ignored the advice of its own hand-picked mediator and refused to agree to binding arbitration. The executive seems to believe it can reach a deal with the university through the collective bargaining process, which has not been successful.

As of today, there is only one holdout in this strike, and as we have no voice at the negotiating table, it’s rather obvious that we are not the ones prolonging the strike.