The Board and ULFA negotiating teams held their twenty-fourth session toward a new Academic Staff Collective Agreement (ASCA) on April 24, 2025. To promote efficient use of this half-day session, the parties prepared and exchanged written proposals two days in advance. The Board team’s proposal and rationale addressed Article 32 (leaves of absence). The ULFA team’s proposals addressed Articles 1 (purpose and objectives), 3 (amendments to the ASCA), and 29 (STP appeals).
The April 24 session opened with a short discussion initiated by the ULFA team to clarify aspects of the Board team’s Article 32 proposal. The Board team followed by raising several questions about procedural matters for proposals exchanged in advance, particular provisions of Articles 1 and 3 that the ULFA team continues to prefer to retain as currently laid out in the ASCA, and whether the ULFA team is authorized to accept tabled proposals.
Regarding the latter point, the ULFA team asserted that it has the authority to bargain. The ULFA team noted areas of progress thus far, and that any agreement must be ratified by the membership.
The Board team also requested a discussion of what a settlement framework might look like for this round of collective bargaining. The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for May 5 and 26 (half-days), June 24 (full day), and June 25 (half-day), 2025. A summary of the progress of articles opened in this round of bargaining is available here.
