On April 22, the Board and ULFA negotiating teams met for the first time in this round of bargaining to reach a new Academic Staff Collective Agreement. After approval of the meeting agenda and introductions, the ULFA team presented a brief opening statement. The Board team had no opening statement but noted they will make a presentation before the exchange of proposals.
The parties discussed a document on bargaining protocols prepared by the Board team, as well as scheduling and communication. The teams agreed to follow past mark-up practices in preparing written proposals and to exchange them in electronic format; to hold meetings on-campus in 2-day blocks if possible; and within 15 days, to identify possible meeting times for all team members for the summer and to exchange a list of all articles and schedules to be opened for negotiations.
The ULFA team noted they will bring observers to bargaining meetings to help train members new to bargaining who may be interested in participating in future rounds and will keep members apprised of the progress of bargaining and proposals exchanged through regular blog posts. The Board team was open to the concept of guests attending and expressed willingness to see how this works.
The Board team noted that it will typically present written proposals, but for some issues their preference is first to have a short interest-based discussion to clarify perspectives and areas of concern. The ULFA team proposed that both parties exchange full proposals at the next bargaining meeting. The Board team indicated their initial proposal will not include any financials, preferring instead to see the issues being raised first, in order to prepare a monetary proposal.
The next bargaining meeting is scheduled for May 21.
The ULFA Negotiating Team
