ULFA Strike in front of U of L (February 18)

By Jerran Fisher

ULFA strike drags on

Feb 25, 2022 | 12:00 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Negotiations are at a standstill for both the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) and The University of Lethbridge (U of L).

Only two articles of 43 have been settled in the more than 600 days since the faculty’s contracts expired.

Dan O’Donnell, president of the ULFA, says other faculty associations at universities across the country that went on strike around the same time as the ULFA, have since reached agreements with their employers; but the ULFA remains without a contract.

“There has been a strike at the Ontario Institute of Technology that started the same day as our strike, it’s settled… Mount Royal University in Calgary went to mediation and, unlike our example, were able to settle for an agreement that was very similar to the agreement that we presented to the board just before mediation ended.”

O’Donnell says the University board will come to the table once the ULFA ‘accepts their framework.’ He says, “that’s simply not how negotiations work. It’s never how they’ve worked, and it’s a very strange way of conducting negotiations.”

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The ULFA says the University also has issues that the board won’t talk about, which is further delaying negotiations.

The University of Lethbridge did not confirm the existence of that list but did respond to some of what the ULFA has been saying.

U of L officials says the ULFA’s refusal to recognize the University’s budget pressures has been a persistent hurdle preventing progress at the bargaining table.

The University states, “Faculty salaries have increased by 34% in the last decade. We have been transparent about our ability to afford further raises. We have tabled the same salary offer Mount Royal University faculty just accepted. At a time when most Albertans, including other staff at the U of L, are not receiving raises, this is a fair and competitive offer.”

The ULFA’s demand for a ‘co-management model’ is another setback for the University. The U of L states, “Unions cannot assume a management role in decision-making, especially on issues that involve other employee groups or non-faculty members of our education community.”

The University of Lethbridge says its Bargaining Committee is hopeful the ULFA will “accept its offer to establish working groups to address non-monetary issues and bring an end to its strike action as soon as possible.”

Read More: University of Lethbridge students join professors on the picket lines