Transition activities and gender pay equity
April 25, 2014
Status of Framework Agreement
The transition team, established by the Faculty Association and the administration (see April 10 update), met on Tuesday, April 22, 2014. Upon the certification of the Faculty Association in late January, the Labour Relations Code had imposed a four month moratorium on changes to the terms and conditions of employment at the university. The transition team discussed what would happen as that period comes to an end. The administration assured the Faculty Association that the current Framework Agreement and the Nov. 20, 2013 arbitration award should continue during negotiations.
While negotiations are ongoing, the university will continue to govern its relations with the association and its members under the terms and conditions set out in the Framework Agreement. This means that all regular processes (e.g. reappointment, promotion, tenure, workload distribution, study leave approvals and application of the annual merit process) will continue in the interim. Should any disagreements arise about the application of the Framework Agreement, the issues will be brought forward to the transition team.
Joint Committee on Gender Pay Equity report
We are also pleased to report that the Joint Committee on Gender Pay Equity (established in the last round of bargaining) has submitted an initial report and recommendations to the Vice-President Academic and Provost. We would like to thank the committee for the hard work and hours that went into preparing the report and in handling an extremely complex issue. Although a great deal of work has been completed, there is still work to be done.
Dr. Tremblay has asked the committee to work with the Office of Institutional Planning and Analysis to complete a more detailed analysis relating to librarians at UVic and the impact of disciplinary differences on the data, and to ensure that merit adjustments have been properly recognized. This additional work will be completed by June 1. The university remains committed to implementing gender pay equity for our faculty and librarians.