Dear Colleagues:
I am writing to provide important updates and information about key issues, events, and upcoming deadlines.
- UTFA is Seeking to Obtain Higher Salary Increases
- ‘Top Employer’ for Whom? Event
- Call for Nominations: UTFA Academic Citizenship Award
- Child Care Benefit Application Deadline
- UTFA Annual General Meeting
- Teaching Stream Promotion Workshop
- Tenure Stream Promotion Workshop
***
1. UTFA is Seeking to Obtain Higher Salary Increases for Faculty Members and Librarians: TODAY & March 2, 2023
Within the context of formal mediation, today and on the evening of March 2, UTFA will be pressing the University Administration to agree to larger across-the-board (ATB) salary and progress-through-the-ranks (PTR) increases for our members. This is after Justice Markus Koehnen declared Bill 124 unconstitutional in response to a successful Charter challenge by a coalition of over 40 unions. More specifically, Justice Koehnen found the statutory limitation to bargaining, which limited compensation increases to 1%, to be a violation of the s. 2(d) Charter rights of UTFA members (and all who are affected) which are not justified in a free and democratic society.
UTFA’s negotiating team (co-led by UTFA VP Jun Nogami and me) is seeking agreement on, or an award for (if we move from mediation to arbitration), compensation in year 3 of our current negotiations which takes into consideration the “catch-up” required to address the losses that UTFA members have experienced due to the restrictions imposed by Bill 124 and inflation. We are now able to seize the opportunity to reconvene mediation and re-negotiate our compensation without the unconstitutional constraints of Bill 124 because the UTFA team protected the right to reactivate bargaining in our previous agreement. The team is now hoping to achieve, in substance, what we first proposed at the outset of this very long round of bargaining with the Administration: “If Bill 124 is found to be unlawful, UTFA proposes an ATB increase that is fair and reasonable in light of the unparalleled professional expectations faced by U of T faculty and librarians, trends in recent settlements in higher education, and broader economic considerations.” Stay tuned.
2. ‘Top Employer’ For Whom? Event: Thursday, March 2, 2023, 6:30pm; Tranzac Club
Faculty researchers and representatives from CUPE, UNITE HERE 75, and other voices from the campus labour movement are organizing an evening of conversation and music to promote decent service work on campus. More information is available at the-list.ca.
3. UTFA’s 2022 Academic Citizenship Award: Nominations due March 14, 2023
The UTFA Academic Citizenship Award will honour one or two initiatives undertaken by members who have made a significant contribution to our understanding of the relationship between the University and public life in 2022 – whether by encouraging the positive engagement of academics in key social issues, or by working to extend democratic and accountable practices within the University itself, or by making an outstanding contribution to the well-being of their community. The award is accompanied by a $1,000 prize. Detailed eligibility and selection criteria, information about past recipients, and the nomination form are available on the UTFA Academic Citizenship Award website page.
4. The Child Care Benefit application deadline is Thursday, March 16, 2023
Details and instructions for how to apply for this entitlement UTFA negotiated on your behalf can be accessed here. The benefit reimburses a portion of childcare expenses incurred in each calendar year for each eligible child (natural, step, common-law, adopted, or ward) under age seven. Note that the documentation requirements are somewhat complicated, so we encourage you to consult the Child Care Benefits FAQ and start the process ASAP. In the upcoming round of salary and benefits bargaining, your UTFA team will be seeking to expand this benefit.
5. UTFA’s AGM is Tuesday, April 25, 2023, 3 to 5pm Please hold the date for our Annual General Meeting.
Come, learn more, and engage with colleagues in shaping the work of our Association. Registration details and an information package will follow in the coming weeks.
6. Teaching Stream Promotion Workshop: Tuesday, May 2, 2023, 10am to noon
This UTFA workshop is relevant to full-time Teaching Stream members and assists them in preparing for their interim review related to continuing status, and promotion to Associate Professor, Teaching Stream. It is designed to demystify review procedures and includes:
- useful tips from teaching dossier experts
- an overview of all relevant University review procedures
- a forum to share and exchange strategies for compiling a successful file
Host: Sherri Helwig, Chair, UTFA Teaching Stream Committee & Interim Vice-President, Grievances.
Speakers: Megan Burnett, Associate Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation (CTSI), and Helen Nowak, UTFA General Counsel. Workshop is via Zoom. Register here.
7. Tenure Stream Promotion Workshop: Tuesday, May 9, 2023, noon to 2 pm
UTFA presents a workshop on the interim review and the tenure review. This workshop is open to all members of the Association and includes:
- an overview of all relevant University review procedures
- useful tips on compiling a successful dossier
Speaker: Emma Phillips, from Goldblatt Partners. Leslie Stewart Rose, Chair, UTFA Appointments Committee, and Helen Nowak, UTFA General Counsel, will also be there to answer questions. Workshop is via Zoom. Register here.
Please note these important dates and deadlines in your calendars. I hope to see many of you at these events, and all of you at our AGM on April 25th—and to share good news on salary negotiations well before then.
Sincerely,
Terezia Zorić
UTFA President
I support modernized U of T Policies for Librarians