Queen’s University Faculty Association (QUFA) and the University have reached a tentative agreement. As of 12:01 a.m. this morning, QUFA and Queen’s administration were in a legal strike or lockout position.
Mediation continued through the deadline but broke off when an offer was made by Queen’s.
“It was the agreement that was proposed at 4:40 a.m. [Sunday] morning,” QUFA President Paul Young said.
Negotiations have been ongoing since January.
A communication blackout that was implemented during mediation last week has now been lifted. Even so, Young said QUFA won’t release details of the agreement until QUFA members are presented with the deal.
It needs to be presented to QUFA membership first, Young said, adding that it will then go to a ratification vote.
Young said the tentative agreement isn’t ideal for QUFA.
“It’s the best we could do in a very tough bargaining environment,” he said. “The institution was very aggressive.”
QUFA had to decide whether or not to pursue a strike, he said.
“We [did] what we [could] to avert a crisis on campus–that would be a strike or lockout,” he said.
QUFA will be signing a multi-year agreement, he said.
Principal Daniel Woolf said the University was focused on reaching an agreement at the bargaining table.
“The administration is very pleased,” he said. “We look forward to moving into the academic year.”
Though fears of a strike or lockout on campus may be quelled, Woolf said both sides still need to ratify the agreement.
“We’ll be obviously calmer still when the agreement has been ratified,” he said, adding that the University will convene a Board of Trustees meeting in the next week.
Tags
Administration, Labour Relations, QUFA, Strike/Lockout, Unions
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s)-in-Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.
