Ongoing Negotiations
Please see below for key updates on ongoing negotiations. To see more of what UTFA is currently up to, you can visit our News page. A diagram of UTFA's negotiating framework in the Memorandum of Agreement with the U of T administration can be found here.
October 3, 2024
Nearly sixteen months after bargaining commenced, UTFA’s Salary, Benefits, and Workload Negotiating Team began formal mediation with the senior Administration, seeking to reach a new deal for faculty and librarians. Our last agreement expired on June 30, 2023.
- UTFA’s Team has tabled a slate of detailed proposals on compensation, benefits, workload, member rights, and bargaining and dispute resolution consistent with members’ priorities and its bargaining mandate. The Administration has only superficially (if at all) engaged with many substantial matters of concern to the membership. For an overview of the status of UTFA’s proposals and the Administration’s levels of engagement with them, see here.
- We expect to go to binding arbitration to deal with unresolved issues in the New Year.
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August 9, 2024
Important UTFA updates from August 9, 2024
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April 19, 2024
Update on the Current Round of Bargaining for Salary, Benefits and Workload from the Report of the VP, SBPW in the AGM newsletter
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February 6, 2024
Update on the Current Round of Bargaining Salary, Benefits, Workload, and Other Matters:
1. Update on the Current Round of Bargaining Salary, Benefits, Workload, and Other Matters
2. Ensuring Your Retroactive Salary Adjustments are Accurate and Transparent
3. Meet Your Chief Negotiators During Winter Campus Visits and Ongoing Bargaining Town Halls
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November 1, 2023
Fall Council Update from UTFA (on Bargaining)
1. Arbitration Award and Town Hall Meetings
Great news–if you haven’t heard already! UTFA’s Negotiating Team was successful in achieving a 7% Across-The-Board (ATB) pay increase. This increase is in addition to the 3% ATB increases already achieved during the three years of the 2020-2023 Agreement with the Administration, resulting in a cumulative total of 10% ATB. The 7% ATB increase is retroactive to July 1, 2022. This is the highest pay increase in the Canadian University sector. Progress through the ranks (PTR) increments and breakpoints will also be increased by an additional 7% retroactive to July 1, 2023. A more detailed written analysis of the award and contrasting UTFA and Administration positions can be found here.
The Administration confirmed that our colleagues will receive their retroactive payments in the November 28, 2023 pay run.
We are holding Town Hall meetings to discuss what we achieved in the recently concluded round of bargaining, what we were unable to achieve because of the limitations of our Memorandum of Agreement with the Administration, and your priorities for the current round (that will begin July 1, 2023). The first two virtual Town Halls were extremely well-attended and made space for enthusiastic discussion of a better future for UTFA. In the coming weeks, we will begin to schedule a series of hybrid and in-person department/constituency/membership meetings.
2. Membership Survey Initial Results
More than 1,100 members completed our August-September 2023 Bargaining Survey! Negotiating improvements in salary (ATB and PTR), workload, job security, housing supports, and other benefits remain huge priorities for our colleagues—as does protecting equal access to health benefits for active members and retirees. Hear more about what members are saying at upcoming constituency and departmental visits. Join those visits with your colleagues to learn more about your individual issues and interests and to discuss collective solutions in bargaining. Dates TBD soon.
3. Update on Bargaining and Information Request
UTFA submitted a disclosure request to the Administration, seeking information that is required to negotiate on your behalf on a range of issues from compensation to workload protections and is routinely provided as part of collective bargaining in certified associations. The Administration agreed to provide this information in our Memorandum (see Article 11), yet is not forthcoming or responsive to our requests. To pursue this necessary information, your bargaining team gave the Administration notice that if they did not meet the request by October 20, 2023, we would ask Arbitrator Eli Gedalof to issue an order. The Administration provided some information by the deadline, but was still only partially responsive. We have asked Arbitrator Gedalof to issue an order to compel the Administration to comply with our request.
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October 2, 2023
More info on our award, good news, and Town Hall invitation
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October 2, 2023
Executive Summary - September 6, 2023 Interest Arbitration Award
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September 20, 2023
7% raise implementation date: Nov. 28th!
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September 7, 2023
Breaking News: Additional 7% salary increase awarded
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September 7, 2023
UTFA and U of T Interest Arbitration Award
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August 21, 2023
Late Summer Update from UTFA
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June 29, 2023
How should your Negotiating Team communicate with you?
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June 19, 2023
Update on Bargaining/Arbitration
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June 19, 2023
Final Bill 124 Briefs
UTFA Bill 124 Main Brief and Book of Documents - April 24 2023
University of Toronto Administration Brief May 8 2023
University of Toronto Arbitration Brief Book of Documents - May 8 2023
UTFA Bill 124 Reply Brief - May 18 2023
UTFA Bill 124 Reply Book of Documents - May 18 2023
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May 26, 2023
Joint Announcement: Policies for Librarians Agreement in Principle
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February 28, 2023
Important Updates, Events, and Deadlines
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December 9, 2022
Important Update: Bill 124 and UTFA-Administration Bargaining
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September 30, 2022
Some key unresolved bargaining issues and the parties’ positions
| Issue | Administration Position | UTFA Position |
| Reining in excessive teaching workloads. | If faculty teach four courses and have 12 hours of in-class time per week, that is only 30% of a 40-hour work week, which leaves 70% of their time free for other aspects of their workload, including scholarship and service. Therefore, Teaching Stream faculty already have reasonable time (as stated in policy) for scholarship, including during teaching-intensive semesters. | This is a gross underestimate of the amount of time required to provide high quality teaching–including time-consuming course preparation and administration, email correspondence, grading, office hours, student accommodations, etc. This underestimation by the Administration is particularly problematic for the Teaching Stream, where teaching loads are higher than that of their Tenure Stream colleagues. Where teaching loads are excessive, there is not reasonable time to engage in scholarship. |
| The need for clear and reasonable workload distributions and assignments. | While the Tenure Stream is normally evaluated on a 40/40/20 basis (40% research, 40% teaching, 20% service) distribution of effort (DOE) during PTR, this DOE has no relevance to the faculty member’s actual distribution of workload. A similar principle holds for the Teaching Stream. | Faculty and Librarians have 3 principal components to their workload. Each component is deserving of a clear, transparent, reasonable, and equitable amount of dedicated time in one’s workload assignment. It is only fair that one gets evaluated in a way that corresponds to one’s actual workload and that colleagues can be assured that “comparable work [is] weighed in the same manner”. It is also entirely reasonable that faculty members know the balance of responsibilities between teaching, scholarship and service that is expected of them, to allow them to appropriately plan their work. |
| Librarian Research Days | Librarians should not be granted a greater number of Research and Professional Development Days because not all Librarians use all the days already allowed. | The number of days currently granted to UTFA Librarians without special permission is 14, and this is fewer than the number granted at many peer institutions in Ontario. |
| Need for a minimum level of teaching assistant (TA) support. | There is no need to have a minimum level of (TA) support guaranteed across the university; the allocation of TA hours should be determined only at the unit level. | There should be a minimum level of guaranteed TA support across the University that depends on several factors including class size. |
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September 29, 2022
U of T Interest Arbitration Reply Brief
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September 29, 2022
UTFA Interest Arbitration Reply Brief
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September 16, 2022
Across the Board (ATB) and Per Course Stipend Increase—Joint UTFA and U of T Administration Announcement
In January 2022, we announced that with the assistance of Mediator Kevin Burkett, the University of Toronto and the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) had reached partial agreement via Minutes of Settlement (MOS) with respect to salary, benefits, and workload for the period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023. The MOS included the referral of outstanding issues with respect to salary, benefits, and workload for the period July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023 to interest arbitration.
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September 15, 2022
Interim Award Regarding July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023 salary increases
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August 19, 2022 (Posted on September 29, 2022)
U of T Interest Arbitration Brief
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August 19, 2022 (Posted on September 29, 2022)
UTFA Interest Arbitration Brief
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August 10, 2022
Joint UTFA and Administration Communication on Improvements to the Dependent Scholarship Program
The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) and the University Administration are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on an improvement to the Dependent Scholarship Program as part of benefits improvements for the year July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, for both active members and retirees.
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February 28, 2022
COVID LOU Extension—New Town Hall; Health & Safety Update
We write to provide you with three important updates:
A. You are invited to a new Town Hall;
B. The COVID LOU has been extended in some significant areas, including PTR; and,
C. The Administration has recently indicated that it intends to continue to require certain key health and safety measures for at least the remainder of this term.
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February 7, 2022
Invitation to UTFA Town Halls on the 2020–2023 SBPW Agreement
As we previously wrote, on January 25, 2022, the UTFA Negotiating Team for Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload (SBPW) and the University Administration reached an agreement regarding the three-year period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023.
Please join us for an UTFA Town Hall to learn about the agreement and what it means for you. There will be an opportunity to have your questions answered. We encourage you to attend the session that corresponds to your campus; however, you are welcome to attend any session that fits your schedule.
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February 4, 2022
You’re Invited: UTFA Town Hall for Retirees on the Three-Year Agreement
On January 25, 2022, the UTFA Negotiating Team for Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload (SBPW) and the University Administration reached an agreement regarding the three-year period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023.
Please join us for a Town Hall to learn about the agreement, what it means for Retirees, and to have your questions answered.
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February 2, 2022
UTFA Reaches Three-Year Agreement with Administration
On January 25, 2022, the UTFA Negotiating Team for Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload (SBPW) and the University Administration reached an agreement regarding the three-year period July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2023. This agreement has now been ratified by UTFA Council and the U of T Administration.
Under the terms of the deal, salary and benefits improvements for the first two years, ending June 30, 2022, have been settled. Terms for the third year, ending June 30, 2023, are subject to arbitration.
Bargaining in this round was constrained by Bill 124 (the Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act, 2019) which restricts salary increases to 1% per year during the three-year period covered by this agreement. Furthermore, the legislation puts a limit of 1% per year on increases to total compensation which also limits benefits improvements.
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January 28, 2022
Updates on Bargaining, the COVID LOU, and Health and Safety
Below are three brief updates: on salaries, benefits, and workload bargaining; the COVID LOU; and Health and Safety. Several important meetings on each of these items are scheduled in the coming days and we will write you more detailed communiqués by the end of next week.
Salary, Benefits, Pension, and Workload Bargaining Update
We are pleased to announce that UTFA has reached a tentative Memorandum of Settlement with the University Administration on Salary, Benefits, Pensions, and Workload matters. This agreement is subject to ratification both by UTFA Council and by the University Administration. As per UTFA’s governance structure, the tentative agreement will be presented for ratification to UTFA Council at a special meeting on Wednesday, February 2, 2022. We anticipate that the Administration will also confirm their ratification next week. If ratified by both parties, the full agreement accompanied by a summary will immediately be made available to the whole UTFA membership.
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September 1, 2021
UTFA Information session on the COVID LOU and Updates from Central Health and Safety Committee
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August 28, 2021
UTFA All Members’ Meeting on the COVID Letter of Understanding (LOU) & Health and Safety Tuesday, August 31, 2021, 5:00-7:00 pm
Please join us to learn more about how the recently-negotiated COVID LOU between UTFA and the Administration affects you, including:
- Your right not to be required to teach hybrid or dual-delivery courses;
- How the special PTR process works;
- Workload relief provisions;
- Your right to choose not to use Student Course Evaluations in some circumstances;
- Which of your expenses qualify under the special COVID Expense Reimbursement Fund (the “CERF”); and,
- Detailed accommodation guidelines, including whom to contact, for those facing medical circumstances, childcare responsibilities, or eldercare responsibilities.
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August 13, 2021
UTFA Council Ratifies COVID LOU (Agreement Reached with Administration)
On Monday, UTFA Council unanimously ratified a special COVID Letter of Understanding (the “COVID LOU”) the UTFA bargaining team had negotiated with the Administration.
As we explained in our last bargaining update, UTFA had been seeking to reach agreement on the most pressing COVID issues with the U of T Administration since the spring of 2020 and we had been negotiating the LOU since January 2021. Issues that are not COVID-specific, and that are part of regular salary, benefits, and workload negotiations—including annual across-the-board salary increases, benefit enhancements, and Workload Policy (WLPP) improvements—remain unresolved (See Appendix B of the LOU). Our last Memorandum of Settlement expired on June 30, 2020, and is subject to ongoing negotiations.
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July 30, 2021
Bargaining Update: Still seeking agreement with the Administration on ‘urgent’ issues
We are writing to update you on salary, benefits, and workload negotiations. UTFA’s bargaining team has been working on your behalf since the spring of 2020. Last week we spent four full days in mediation with Kevin Burkett, a highly respected mediator-arbitrator, who sought to assist the UofT Administration and UTFA in reaching an agreement on a range of pressing issues that would mitigate some of the impacts of COVID-19 on our working lives.
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June 9, 2021
UTFA Bargaining Update and Move to Mediation
We are writing to update you on our efforts to negotiate salary, benefits, pensions, and workload (SBPW) improvements on your behalf. As we previously reported, UTFA entered into the current round of SBPW negotiations with the U of T Administration in the Fall of 2019. Our proposals arose from a series of surveys and constituency-based consultations with faculty and librarians
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February 4, 2021
Working together, we took action and we won
Thank you. Three weeks ago, following protracted negotiations and an unsuccessful arbitration, we found ourselves facing an Administration that continued to withhold our July 1, 2020 PTR increases—despite the extraordinary efforts UTFA members have been making during the pandemic.
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January 15, 2021
Key win on PTR
Good news! Yesterday we wrote to you about the ongoing decision by U of T’s Senior Administration to withhold your July 1, 2020 PTR (Progress Through the Ranks) increase. The response from our membership was immediate and overwhelmingly supportive of UTFA’s position as expressed in our PTR petition.
Last night, following UTFA’s email and petition, we received an offer from the Administration that remained silent on two key features of how PTR will be calculated. Earlier today we wrote to the Administration for clarification and just received a response confirming that 2019-2020 PTR breakpoints and increments will be calculated using breakpoints and increments increased by 2% from those used in the June 30, 2019 PTR exercise.
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January 14, 2021
Where is your July 1, 2020 PTR?
This is an update on UTFA’s efforts to challenge the Administration’s withholding of your 2019-2020 PTR (Progress Through the Ranks). As we previously communicated, UTFA recently took the Administration to arbitration to challenge their decision to withhold last year’s PTR increase. Unfortunately, the arbitrator ruled that although “there is substantial evidence that PTR has previously been regularly and routinely implemented prior to the conclusion of Article 6 [of our Memorandum] negotiations” the Administration is not required to provide faculty and librarians at U of T with PTR on July 1st on an annual basis. Rather, PTR must be negotiated in every round of bargaining.
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January 14, 2021
Petition: U of T faculty and librarians deserve better
We, the undersigned members of the University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA), call on the University of Toronto Senior Administration to:
- Materially acknowledge the vital contributions UTFA faculty and librarians made in 2019-2020, under extraordinary circumstances, to our students, our scholarly and professional communities, and the broader missions of the University of Toronto as a whole;
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November 25, 2020
Update on July 1, 2020 PTR and Update on Current Round of SBPW Negotiations
Update on July 1, 2020 PTR:
UTFA is continuing to receive a large and increasing number of inquiries from faculty members and librarians who are concerned about the status of the PTR payment that members expected to receive on July 1, 2020. This PTR increase was earned during the 2019-2020 academic year and reflects the outcome of last year’s (June 30, 2020) PTR process.
Update on Current Round of SBPW Negotiations
Prior to the current round of SBPW negotiations, UTFA’s team consulted at length with our faculty and librarian members, and tabled proposals with the U of T Administration that reflected the issues that were identified as being of the greatest importance.
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November 3, 2020
Part-time policy update
The revised Part-time Policy negotiated between UTFA and the Administration was passed by Governing Council on October 29th. Some highlights of the new policy include:
- Effective October 29th, the titles of part-time Teaching Stream faculty with the title of ‘Lecturer’ have changed to ‘Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream’ and the titles of part-time Teaching Stream faculty with the title of ‘Senior Lecturer’ have changed to ‘Associate Professor, Teaching Stream’. Titles for part-time faculty with tenure stream titles (Assistant/Associate/Professor) will remain unchanged.
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September 4, 2020
UTFA Librarians: Principles for Consultation – Annual Activity Report and Performance Assessment Policies/Procedures
We are very pleased to share with you the Principles for Consultation – Annual Activity Report and Performance Assessment Policies/Procedures agreed to on June 3, 2020 and approved by UTFA Council on June 10, 2020.