Negotiations FAQ – Students

Labour Terminology

A lockout is when the employer suspends work or prohibits access to a workplace. It is like a strike, but a lockout is initiated by the Board of Governors. UPEIFA members would not be able to access the university campuses, including their offices, laboratories and other campus resources for the purpose of their usual job activities. UPEIFA is not aware of any application for lockout action currently.

A strike is a collective action in which the members of a union (UPEIFA) withhold their services from their Employer (the UPEI Board of Governors). A union is legally entitled to strike once specific negotiation and conciliation processes have been exhausted. In PEI, a union’s right to strike is governed by the PEI Labour Act.

Unions protect the rights of employees and allow them to establish good working conditions for every member of the union. Unions have been very powerful for expanding the rights of workers, limiting working hours, implementing health and safety regulations, winning rights to things like pensions and parental leave, and fighting against discrimination. Teacher unions have long noted that “teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions.” Academic unions like UPEIFA ensure that the working conditions at UPEI allow the faculty to provide the kind of quality education UPEI prides itself on. An important part of this is making sure that there are enough professors, instructors, and librarians, working under fair and reasonable conditions, so that students have access to the world-class education that the university promises.

Collective bargaining is the negotiation of an employment contract or collective agreement between a union of employees and an employer. Collective bargaining is a legal process. In PEI, the process is regulated by the PEI Labour Act. Within the UPEI context, this means negotiation between UPEIFA and the Board of Governors (BoG) regarding the terms of employment for UPEIFA members.

Job action is either a strike initiated by the UPEIFA, or a lockout initiated by the administration. It happens when there is a bargaining impasse between the employer (Board of Governors) and the employees (UPEIFA).

The BoG and UPEIFA have been negotiating since May 2022. Conciliation occurred from August 2022 – December 2022 and has concluded. Minister Bloyce Thompson (Economic Growth, Tourism, and Culture) appointed a mediator rather than permit the parties to return to direct negotiations. If mediation is not able to bridge the gap between the two sides, then either party may decide to take job action.

The parties involved in negotiations are the UPEI Faculty Association (UPEIFA) – the certified bargaining agent for all UPEI academic staff – and the UPEI Board of Governors (BOG). Negotiations are currently underway for Bargaining Unit #1, which includes faculty, librarians, sessional instructors and clinical nursing instructors, and for Bargaining Unit #2, which is composed of clinical veterinary professionals. The UPEIFA’s Chief Negotiator is UPEIFA Member Dr. Margot Rejskind.

The UPEI Board of Governors is the body at UPEI charged with administering all non-academic aspects of the University. Although the Board is technically responsible for negotiating an agreement with the UPEIFA, in practice it generally delegates the task to the university administration. In this round of negotiations, the Board has engaged Brian Johnston, a lawyer from the Halifax office of Stewart McKelvey, as their Chief Negotiator.

The parties involved in negotiations are the UPEI Faculty Association (UPEIFA) – the certified bargaining agent for all UPEI academic staff – and the UPEI Board of Governors (BOG). Negotiations are currently underway for Bargaining Unit #1, which includes faculty, librarians, sessional instructors and clinical nursing instructors, and for Bargaining Unit #2, which is composed of clinical veterinary professionals. The UPEIFA’s Chief Negotiator is UPEIFA Member Dr. Margot Rejskind.

The UPEI Board of Governors is the body at UPEI charged with administering all non-academic aspects of the University. Although the Board is technically responsible for negotiating an agreement with the UPEIFA, in practice it generally delegates the task to the university administration. In this round of negotiations, the Board has engaged Brian Johnston, a lawyer from the Halifax office of Stewart McKelvey, as their Chief Negotiator.

Negotiations 2022

Negotiations require both parties to work towards a fair and reasonable agreement. While we have submitted proposals to address a range of issues that impact the quality of your education, the UPEI Board of Governors has made it clear that they are comfortable with larger class sizes, continued reliance on instructors who have little job security and no benefits, and inadequate research and administrative supports for your professors. This has made it difficult for the parties to find some common ground.

This summer, the Faculty Association spent close to 100 hours at the bargaining table in an effort to reach a reasonable agreement that addresses our members’ significant concerns. Unfortunately, those meetings made it clear that our employer was largely comfortable with the status quo and was not interested in participating in a meaningful process of collective bargaining to improve our members’ working conditions and our students’ learning conditions.

After four (4) months of government supported conciliation in which the UPEIFA made significant movement towards reaching a fair and reasonable agreement, the parties were unable to resolve their outstanding concerns.

At the conclusion of conciliation, the provincial government elected to appoint a mediator to see if an agreement can be reached between the parties. If that process is unsuccessful, both parties will be in a legal strike/lock-out position seven (7) after the mediator files her report with the Minister of Economic Growth, Tourism, and Culture.

Yes, our data is pulled from publicly available information on the UPEI website at https://www.upei.ca/about-upei/facts-and-figures.

Our data is available in this Google Sheet.

The UPEI Board of Governors is responsible for managing UPEI’s financial resources which includes significant funding from the provincial government. To date, the Board has elected to use these funds to:

  • Silence members of the campus community who have made harassment allegations against UPEI Senior Management
  • Hire multiple law firms to investigate harassment allegations against the former UPEI President
  • Hire an expensive lawyer from Halifax, NS to prevent the UPEI Faculty Association and the other campus unions from making gains on their bargaining priorities
  • Repeatedly relocate UPEI Senior Management across campus and renovate their new spaces
  • Take on significant capital debt to build legacy buildings
  • Invest in significant expansions of senior administration, with ever-increasing numbers of “Special Advisors”, Associate VP’s, CAOs, “Directors”, and other administrators

Together, these funds could have been used to address a range of issues that impact the quality of your education. Instead, the Board has opted to spend our educational resources on a number of things that have nothing to do with the quality of your education. In this context, it is deeply concerning for the Board to suggest that our proposals for improving your education will inevitably increase your tuition.

During this round of collective bargaining, UPEI Faculty Association members have made the following issues a priority:

  • Hire additional full-time faculty to reduce course sizes, create more course options, and open up more opportunities for supervision and directed studies
  • Establish manageable workloads for academic staff so we can focus on our students
  • Provide benefits and support for contract academic faculty who teach many of your classes in challenging working conditions
  • Secure adequate research support to enable UPEI academic staff to provide essential research and learning experiences to students
  • Ensure that UPEI academic staff have sufficient administrative support
  • Health and safety protections that make our campus safer and healthier for everyone
  • Mental health supports for UPEI academic staff
  • Establish clear and enforceable measures for enhancing equity, diversity, inclusion, and indigeneity (EDII) on our campus
  • Competitive compensation so we can recruit and retain excellent academic staff and deliver our programs

On January 6, Minister Bloyce Thompson (Economic Growth, Tourism, and Culture) signalled that he intends to appoint a mediator to assist the parties in reaching an agreement. If that process is unsuccessful, the parties will have a seven (7) day “cooling off” period after which the UPEI Faculty Association can take a strike vote and the UPEI Board of Governors can lock-out UPEI academic staff.

To be clear, the UPEI Faculty Association’s interest in being in a legal strike position is intended to put pressure on the UPEI Board of Governors to reach a fair and reasonable agreement.

In the event that we cannot reach an agreement, UPEI classes may be disrupted until such time as an agreement can be reached.  

Margot Rejskind.– Chief Negotiator (Music)

Melissa Belvadi – Librarian (Robertson Library)

Greg Doran (English)

Stephanie Hamilton (AVC, Companion Animals)

Rebecca Reed-Jones (Applied Human Sciences)

Margot Rejskind (Arts) (Appointed October 2022)

Jason Stevens (Economics)

Supporting the UPEIFA

Yes, by all means! Our members would appreciate your support.

The shifts are from 8am-4pm Monday to Friday and students are welcome to join any time! We have three locations:

  • University Avenue UPEI Entrance
  • Alumni Hall
  • Belvedere UPEI Entrance

We have blank signs available at all three locations that students are welcome to decorate or you can bring your own. We reccomend that you find the picket captain and check in with them.

UPEI students interested in supporting the UPEI Faculty Association in their struggle to improve our institution should make their voices heard! This includes:

  • sending letters to the UPEI Board of Governors and provincial government to show your support for UPEI academic staff. Sample letters are available on our website (upeifa.ca)
  • letting your instructors know that you support their efforts to improve your education
  • liking and sharing UPEIFA social media posts. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and help share our messages.
  • in the event of job action, joining UPEI academic staff on the picket line!

Miscellaneous

When professors are hired, they are expected to complete the following activities:

  • undergraduate and/or graduate teaching and advising (40%);
  • research, scholarship, and creative and professional activities (40%); and
  • service (committee membership at the University and/or professional organizations) (20%)

As detailed above, research is one portion of a professor’s position at UPEI and they do not receive any additional pay to complete research activities. Upon hire, tenure stream professors are provided with a one-time twenty-five hundred dollar ($2500) start up research grant.

In addition, faculty may apply for internal and external research grants. If a grant to awarded to a faculty member there are often strict funder guidelines on how monies are used.

It is important to understand that UPEI Faculty Association members will not be on strike as of February 7. That date is not a strike deadline, it is only the date from which the union is legally allowed to hold a strike vote. 

What Happens During a Strike

Yes, by all means! Our members would appreciate your support.

The shifts are from 8am-4pm Monday to Friday and students are welcome to join any time! We have three locations:

  • University Avenue UPEI Entrance
  • Alumni Hall
  • Belvedere UPEI Entrance

We have blank signs available at all three locations that students are welcome to decorate or you can bring your own. We reccomend that you find the picket captain and check in with them.

Yes, the Robertson Library building will remain open and most services and online resources will continue (e.g. services available at the Information Desk).

Librarians, who are part of the Faculty Association, and the services they provide (instruction sessions, reference or research questions, etc.) will pause during a strike.

No. The outcome of a strike vote by members of the union tells the union’s executive whether or not the majority of workers (UPEIFA members) authorize the union to call a strike. A strong “Yes” to a strike vote does not mean that a strike is inevitable. 

Calling for a strike vote is a method of encouraging the administration back to the bargaining table with the UPEIFA members. Often negotiations are concluded in the brief period between the notice of intent to strike and the strike deadline. Reaching a settlement before a strike occurs would be ideal, but this requires the Board of Governors to make a fair and reasonable offer.

No one can predict how long a work stoppage would last, but strikes in the post-secondary education sector normally do not last long. The average length of such strikes in Canada is about three weeks. To date, no Canadian post-secondary institution has lost a semester due to a strike or lock-out.

Under the PEI Labour Act, the earliest the Faculty Association could take a strike vote would be Tuesday, February 7, 2023. A strike vote requires the majority of voting members of the union to vote in favour of a strike. Once that occurs, the Faculty Association sets a strike deadline.

No. The decision to strike is made collectively – and democratically – by all members of a union, and if the majority votes YES, and the UPEIFA Executive decides to call a strike, then any strike action taken applies to all of the union’s members as well.

What Happens to Me as a Student?

UPEIFA members will not prohibit students from accessing the university campus. Parking, the library building, and other services will remain open, as will residences. However, the Board of Governors (BoG) may choose to lock out both students and employees from the university campuses and online resources in response to a strike from UPEIFA. This decision lies solely with the BoG.

Since UPEIFA members would withhold their labour during a strike, this means that classes, labs, thesis defenses, and research projects will be postponed until the job action is settled. Students will still have access to their emails, Moodle, etc., but faculty will not be conducting classes, posting online material, grading assignments, overseeing directed reading, or responding to student emails. The employer may restrict access to faculty email and other university computer resources for the duration of any job action.

Overseeing external placements is often part of the work of academic staff, who will be unable to continue this work in the event of job action. It will be up to the administration to look after co-op students, possibly by hiring strikebreakers. In other situations, non-academic staff work in co-op offices, and these staff members would continue to work, because these employees are not part of UPEIFA.

Mid-term exams may be rescheduled at the completion of the job action; however, the employer has the sole authority to decide changes to the university calendar. When a strike ends, the employer and the union must negotiate a return-to-work protocol, which will stipulate how academic staff will be able to return to their positions, and thus their duties overseeing midterms and marking assignments.

What Happens After Job Action (Strike/Lockout)?

It is our hope that an agreement can be reached with minimal disruption to students. However, should job action occur, it will be up to the administration to determine how the rest of the term will be completed and how student needs will be addressed.

This is not the decision of UPEIFA; the administration will make this call. However, in the history of job action in the post-secondary education sector in Canada, an academic term has never been cancelled. This is simply a scare tactic commonly used by administrations to gain favour with students.