ULFA hosted its sixteenth Bargaining Town Hall on January 29 and 30, 2026 for this round of negotiations toward a new Academic Staff Collective Agreement (ASCA). The ULFA negotiating team began each session with a brief recap of the bargaining process that started more than 670 days ago and so far has involved 36 bargaining sessions. The ULFA negotiating team touched on the bargaining and mediation timeline, reviewed the current status of items opened for bargaining, summarized key areas of difference between party positions at the table, and briefly noted the progress of public sector bargaining elsewhere in the province. The ULFA job action committee followed with an update on what may lie ahead during and following formal mediation.
The floor was then opened for Q & A. Across the two Town Hall sessions, themes that arose include the following:
- Factors that may delay or speed up the bargaining and mediation process
- Timelines associated with a strike vote, in the event that such a step is needed
- Different pathways that may help members prepare for what lies ahead as we enter mediation
- Likely impacts of job action on students
- Clarification sought on particular aspects of proposals currently on the table.
A summary of the progress of items opened in this round of bargaining is available here. The next scheduled bargaining/mediation dates are February 4, March 2, and 3.
