PSAC77000

Author: communications

  • Change of Leadership

    Change of Leadership

    Members of the postdoc union would like to thank the outgoing members, Alberto Tonero, the president, and Maha Abdallah, the vice-president, for their commitment and work towards betterment of the postdoc union. We thank them for running the union successfully which benefited our fellow postdocs.
    We would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome Maryia Halubok, our new union president. Formal elections will take place in the next Annual General Meeting. Wishing the new team all the best in continuing the good work on improving the conditions for postdocs here, at Carleton University.

  • Collective Agreement Negotiations – Update #2

    Collective Agreement Negotiations – Update #2

    Our postdoctoral union PSAC Local 77000 and Carleton University reached a tentative collective agreement on June 29, 2022. The previous agreement for PSAC Local 77000 expired on April 30, 2022. The union and the university have been engaged in negotiations for the past month regarding modifications to the contract.

    The tentative agreement keeps postdoc salaries a subject to the 1% annual cap in accordance with Bill 124, Protecting a Sustainable Public Sector for Future Generations Act.

    Representatives of both sides agreed on several modifications to the contract. These modifications include broadening the scope of the professional development fund that now can be used to purchase equipment and materials required for the performance of the postdoc’s duties; introduction of the annual postdoctoral fellow research award; extension of access to email account after appointment expiration, and changes to the health care plan, among others.

    The next step would be a ratification vote by members of the union and the university’s Board of Governors. The union members will need to vote on the tentative contract in the upcoming weeks, so stay tuned for more details soon!

    In solidarity,

    Bargaining team members:
    Maha Abdallah,
    Michel Lopez Barrios,
    Maryia Halubok

  • Collective Agreement Negotiations – Update #1

    Collective Agreement Negotiations – Update #1

    In a meeting held on February 7 2022, a bargaining committee was elected by the Postdoctoral Union assembly. Maryia Halubok, Michel Lopez Barrios and MahaAbdallah were chosen to represent the Union in future negotiations with Carleton University (CU) towards the signing of a new collective agreement.
    The Postdoctoral Fellow Bargaining Committee sent out a survey on April 12 in order to obtain postdocs’ inputs to assess and prioritize the demands that would constitute the core of future negotiations. Two reminders regarding the said survey were sent on April 21 and April 26.
    As of June 2,four meetings (March 15, May 16, May 24, June 2)have taken place with the PSAC team that is helping the Union during the negotiation process. The initial proposition from CU was an expeditedround ofnegotiations, which basicallytranslates to a copy-paste of the previous collective agreement between the Union and CU. According to Ontario law, annual public sector wage increases are capped at 1%, which, given the consumer price index in the last year, implies a pay cut of around 4% in real terms.
    A detailed list of demands and modifications to the postdoc contract is being drafted to be sent to CU in the following days. Besides the wages, the bargaining committee centers its demands around the following points: expanding the use of professional development fund (PDF), providing access to the services of CU immigration advisers at no cost to postdocs, ensuring continued access to the university email account after the end of contract, and others.
    Meetings with a CU representative are scheduled on June 13 and 15. Previously, a meeting with CU was scheduled on May 24. Following PSAC negotiator‘s recommendation, it was postponed by thebargainingcommittee. The purpose of this action was to wait fortheOntarioprovincialelection results, hoping that eventually, the cap on public wages increases could be modified or overturnedby the future government.
    As mentioned above, the university proposed to go for a shorter round of negotiations, and the bargaining team agreed to attempt this approach. However, if the bargainingcommittee members do not find it beneficial to go for an expedited round of negotiations in terms of benefits to the postdocs, the bargainingcommittee will opt in for long negotiations. In this case, the negotiation process is likely to continue until fall. Further updates will be posted as the negotiation evolves.