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The University of Ottawa and the union that represents its full-time professors and librarians have scheduled three more days for conciliation in January.
The Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) contract expired at the end of April and the union has been negotiating with the university since June 12 without an agreement. Conciliation meetings were held this week and are to resume on Jan. 15, 16 and 27.
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Both sides have agreed not to call for a “no-board report” before they resume conciliation, according to an APUO bargaining update. That means neither can strike or impose a lockout during this school term.
A no-board report is a notice from the Ministry of Labour that a conciliation board will not be appointed after an agreement can’t be reached. It is usually requested only when bargaining has completely broken down.
After a no-board report is issued, the parties must wait 17 days before commencing a legal strike or lockout.
However, APUO is moving ahead with a strike-mandate vote next week.
“In light of (the) reality at the table and the issues at stake, we will be holding a special general meeting on Nov. 12 to provide a full update on negotiations. A strike vote will follow the meeting,” the union said in a release.
APUO is seeking a two-year agreement with across-the-board salary increases of 2.81 per cent and 2.84 per cent. Those amounts represent the weighted average of salary increases negotiated by “comparator” universities for the same academic years, including Carleton University, University of Guelph, McMaster University, Queen’s University, Western University, University of Windsor, University of Waterloo and York University, according to the union, which says uOttawa has proposed a three-year agreement with increases of one per cent for 2024-25; 1.25 per cent for 2025-26 and 1.5 per cent for 2026-27.
Meanwhile, APUO says uOttawa has one of the highest student-to-professor ratios in Ontario and workload is the top issue. The union also wants representation on the university’s board of governors.
APUO has 1,311 members, but does not represent other academic staff, such as teaching assistants, researchers and sessional lecturers.
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