On September 24 and 25, 2025, ULFA hosted its thirteenth Bargaining Town Hall in this round of negotiations toward a new Academic Staff Collective Agreement (ASCA). The ULFA negotiating team reviewed topics discussed at the September 3 and 4 negotiation sessions and summarized the current state of negotiations. Representatives from CAUT were invited guests and were given an opportunity to express their support for our negotiation efforts.
Members were informed of the current activities of the ULFA Job Action Committee and Shop Stewards related to bargaining. They were also reminded of the timeline for the 450 days of bargaining thus far, including the cadence and frequency of meetings and negotiation scheduling, and the upcoming negotiation schedule.
A review of the opened Articles and Schedules included details of some of the proposals exchanged to date. The ULFA negotiating team also noted that they undertook considerable research to prepare proposals, with awareness of how particular issues are addressed in collective agreements across Canada. There was some discussion around proposals related to Grievance and Discipline articles (9, 11, 19), Career Progress and Merit (23, 24), the Teaching Professoriate (13, 21, 35, 39, and WW), and Monetary proposals (A).
The update then shifted to public sector negotiations within the province and the status of other negotiation tables.
In the Q&A session that followed, Members raised questions on a wide variety of topics related to negotiations. These included what has been discussed and offered at the table regarding monetary items, concern about inflationary pressures and salary erosion that we have seen in recent years, concerns about Board team assertions that any costs of language or benefits be subtracted from available COLA funds at our table where this has not been the case at other tables, the cost and consultation process of the institutional rebranding, comments on the institutional surplus(es) and related spending projects (cost and member consultation), and observations from Members who have attended bargaining sessions in this round as observers. A summary of the progress of items opened in this round of bargaining is available here. The next scheduled bargaining dates are October 2, 3, 23, 24, November 12, 14, and December 11* and 12*, 2025 (* depending on final exam schedules).
