Dear SFUFA Members:
At the recent General Meeting (April 27th) members voted in favour of holding an electronic ballot to consider a dues increase. The exact wording of the motion was as follows:
That the Executive of the Faculty Association organize an electronic vote of Members to set dues between 0.8% and 0.9%, the precise amount to be determined after further budgetary analysis.
The Executive has evaluated the current budget, looking at legal costs over the past two years and costs so far in this fiscal year, and also considering the cost of adding one additional staffperson to the Association. It is a careful and conservative plan we propose, intended to keep our organization lean while meeting the needs of faculty members today. We would remain well within the small group of Associations collecting less than 1% in dues, but would, we believe, be able to maintain for members the level of access to Association services you both expect and deserve.
The following provides more detailed background to the motion that will be brought before you, covering contextual issues, a report on case numbers, and comparative data on Faculty Association staffing and dues rates.
The exact motion that will be brought to members can be found at the end of this document, and will be sent to members to begin voting on Wednesday, June 1st.
Labour Relations and SFUFA Office Management, 2014-present
In 2014, the Faculty Association became a union under the BC Labour Code. Prior to unionization, the Association only had the right to bargain salaries and economic benefits. That is, we relied on the goodwill of the University to consult with us regarding changes to policies that impact faculty members.
Once we unionized, the Association won the right to bargain any and all terms and conditions that impact faculty member work, and easier access to formal dispute resolution processes under the Labour Board.
While unionization expanded our ability to file grievances and pursue arbitration, the Association continued to prioritize informal and collegial resolutions. Lately, however, SFU has begun to change its approach to labour relations with the Association, pulling back from informal resolution and open discussion, and increasingly requiring that issues be put into formal grievance proceedings.
What does this change in approach mean for the Association?
–an increased workload for Association staff as avenues for informal and creative problem-solving are increasingly closed off;
–increased legal costs for both SFU and SFUFA.
What does this change in approach mean for Faculty Members?
–increased tensions within units and between faculty members and the University as informal and collegial resolution becomes less the norm;
–increased numbers of bullying and harassment complaints as informal conversations and resolutions are more difficult to arrange;
–in many cases, a dramatic increase in the length of time required to resolve issues.
Between our certification in 2014 and 2019, there were only 3 cases that required formal processes to be initiated; Since 2019, we have had to lodge formal processes in over 20 cases. The following is a snapshot of our caseload in the recent past. In considering what to count, we made the decision to exclude the two anomalous factors – COVID 19 and the pension transition – that would have impacted the integrity of the count.
The following, then, excludes:
–any issues related to COVID
–any issues related to the transition to the BCCPP
–any easily answered questions or comments
The numbers reported below include only issues brought forward by individual members, and only those that were serious enough to require multiple meetings to address.
Since 2020, the Association has worked with over 230 individual faculty members, which represents some 20% of all faculty members at SFU.
Of those 230 members,
—75% of all cases are from members of designated equity groups as recognized by law
— (60%) have been brought by women
-fully 30% of all female faculty have had need to reach out to the Association
—50% of all Aboriginal faculty have had reason to seek assistance from the Association
We are seeing more cases overall as well as more complex cases, which results in the Association needing to consult with external legal counsel more frequently than ever before. Our cases range from denials of reappointment for long-term limited term faculty to issues of gendered salary inequity to SFU’s failure to live up to its commitments to research chairs. We provide legal support for members whose academic freedom is under threat and who are not adequately supported by the University, to members exploring human rights complaints, and to those who find SFU’s responsiveness lacking when their scholarly work is under attack or their safety is threatened. And we fight constantly for the rights of ill or disabled faculty members who find themselves all too quickly brushed aside by the institution when they are unable to work for an extended period. The cases we see and the work we do covers all aspects of faculty members’ lives, from personal struggles to family tragedies, from intellectual property disputes to infringement of academic freedom, from the voting rights of limited term faculty to million-dollar infrastructure projects that languish with crippling career impacts. It’s a big job. And it costs money.
SFUFA Dues and Office Management
Compared to other institutions both in BC and in Canada generally, the Association operates very efficiently. Of 67 unionized faculty associations in Canada, only 1 has a dues rate lower than SFUFA, and that is UBC, an institution whose overall salary mass far exceeds ours, meaning their dues can remain slightly lower than those at SFU in percentage terms.
SFUFA operates with a small professional staff – an Executive Director, one Membership Services Officer, and one Office Manager. All of the day to day work of the Association is done by three people, and that number has not changed since long before we became a legal trade union and drastically expanded our work. SFUFA’s office staff, as many of you can attest, are available to our members far more than is reasonable to expect; they are available to work not during set hours, but whenever is required, which is virtually always.
The following tables illustrate how we compare to all other university faculty associations in BC, and to the four associations nationally that most closely resemble us.
Demographics of other unionized Faculty Associations:
BC:
|
Institution |
Dues Rate (%) |
Number of Faculty Members |
Number of Association Staff |
|
BCIT |
1.85 |
1800 |
9 |
|
UNBC |
1.50 |
225 |
2 |
|
Royal Roads |
1.30 |
52 |
0 |
|
UVic |
0.83 |
900 |
4 |
|
SFU |
0.685 |
1300 |
3 |
|
UBC |
0.678 |
3200 |
7 |
National Comparators:
|
Institution |
Dues Rate (%) |
Number of Faculty Members |
Number of Association Staff |
|
York (excluding Law School) |
1.35 |
1500 |
8 |
|
Dalhousie |
1.25 |
1100 |
4 |
|
University of Western Ontario |
1.00 |
1300 |
5 |
|
Ryerson |
0.85 |
910 |
4 |
We have not assessed staffing levels at every faculty association in Canada. But we do have, from our partners at CAUT, a complete breakdown of dues rates at Canada’s universities.
There are 71 Associations who belong to CAUT, which represents virtually every Faculty Association in Canada. Of these 71 Associations, only 4 have lower dues overall, and 3 of those are non-unionized, which means they have a very narrow area of jurisdiction confined to salary and economic benefits. Of those who are unionized and share the same legal obligations as SFUFA, we rank 66th out of 67.
Of the 71 Associations, the dues can be classed as follows:
17 Associations (including SFUFA) have dues below 1%
47 Associations have dues between 1.0-1.5%
7 Associations have dues above 1.5%
The complete list is available at: https://www.sfufa.ca/faculty-association-dues-rates-2021/
In terms of dues, we are one of the very lowest nationally; in size of office staff, we are one of the smallest, particularly when one considers the number of faculty members we represent. SFUFA has prided itself on its efficiency, which itself relies on an incredible flexibility and commitment of the office staff. But as the work expands, as the numbers of faculty members seeking assistance grows, and as we see an increased need for formal processes that often require legal advice, the office and staffing situation is becoming unsustainable. We simply cannot continue to offer the services that members require, in both staff support and legal assistance, with our current budget.
At the recent General Meeting (April 27th) members voted in favour of holding an electronic ballot to consider a dues increase. The exact wording of the motion was as follows:
That the Executive of the Faculty Association organize an electronic vote of Members to set dues between 0.8% and 0.9%, the precise amount to be determined after further budgetary analysis.
The Executive has evaluated the current budget, looking at legal costs over the past two years and costs so far in this fiscal year, and looking at the cost of adding one additional staffperson to the Association. We would remain well within the small group of Associations collecting less than 1% in dues, but would be able to maintain for members the level of access to Association services you both expect and deserve.
You will be sent an electronic ballot on Wednesday, June 1st that will ask you to vote for or against a dues increase to assist the Association in its work representing SFU faculty members. The motion will propose:
That SFUFA’s dues be increased from the current from 0.685% to 0.85% per member effective September 1, 2022.
The Faculty Association is your organization. Its Executive is made up of you and your colleagues. Its decision-making processes are open to all faculty members. And its work, each day and every day, is rooted in the real, immediate needs of the faculty members who work here. We hope you will continue to work with us to ensure that the work we do is work of value to you. And we ask for your support for this motion.
SFUFA’s Executive Committee