AASUA

Dear colleagues, 

Thank you to those who were able to attend and participate in our April town hall meetings. For those who were not able to attend, I have prepared the following summary to share what we went over in the town halls. 

AASUA’s revised monetary proposals

I sat down with Kristine Smitka, AASUA Vice-President, to discuss AASUA’s revised monetary proposal. You can watch the three-minute video we made delving into the proposal here: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/ERtH00QUjrE

The Government of Alberta has been pushing a standardized pattern of wage increases across the public sector. We have seen this pattern emerge at several tables including the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) and the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). The mandate it appears they are pushing for is a four-year deal with 3% wage increases each year.

AASUA initially proposed a 17% Across-The-Board (ATB) increase over one year to keep U of A compensation competitive nationally and to address the realities of inflation. To adapt to the government’s mandate and move closer towards a deal, AASUA has shifted our ATB proposal while finding other ways to bolster academic staff salaries. Here is our revised proposal:

SALARY PROPOSAL

July 1, 2024 (in sequence):

• 3% ATB applied to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values. (Base salary is salary not including administrative stipend, market supplement, or salary supplement)
• 1.0 Step added to all salary maxes (Note:  for Full Professor and FSO IV, 1.0 Prof II increment and 1.0 FSO IV II increment will be added (contiguously) to the Full Professor and FSO IV salary scales, respectively)
• Everybody moves up 1.0 step on their salary scale
• Flat increase of $4,000 to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins and maxes. (Has no effect on increment values)

July 1, 2025 (in sequence):

• 3% ATB applied to all base salaries, salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 1.0 Step added to all salary maxes (Note: for Full Professor and FSO IV, 1.0 Prof I increment and 1.0 FSO IV I increment will be added (contiguously) to the Full Professor and FSO IV salary scales, respectively) 
• Everybody moves up 1.0 step on their salary scale

July 1, 2026: 

• 3% ATB applied to all base salaries, salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 1.0 Step added to all salary maxes (Note: for Full Professor and FSO IV, 1.0 Prof II increment and 1.0 FSO IV II increment will be added (contiguously) to the Full Professor and FSO IV salary scales, respectively. 

July 1, 2027:

• 3% ATB applied to all base salaries, salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 1.0 Step added to all salary maxes (Note: for Full Professor and FSO IV, 1.0 Prof II increment and 1.0 FSO IV II increment will be added (contiguously) to the Full Professor and FSO IV salary scales, respectively. 

ACADEMIC BENEFITS PLAN PROPOSALS

Effective July 1, 2024:

• The annual per capita funding for the Academic Benefits Plan shall be increased effective July 1, 2024 (and each subsequent July 1 in the renewal collective agreement, as applicable) to cover the actual increased expenditures associated with the Academic Benefits Plan over the period 2024-25 (and subsequent period, as applicable, respectively).
• Any AASUA Member with a greater than or equal to a 0.4 full-time equivalency (FTE) part-time appointment shall be a member of Academic Benefits Plan with full benefits and shall be included in the annual per capita funding formula. Further and for clarity, all benefits, including Professional Expense Reimbursement (“PER”) shall be included in the annual per capita funding formula. 
• AASUA continues to propose pro-rated PER allowance for those Members not otherwise eligible to participate in the Academic Benefits Plan.

ACADEMIC SUPPLEMENTARY RETIREMENT PLAN (ASRP) SALARY CAP

Effective July 1, 2024

• Amend Article 2.23 in the document University of Alberta Academic Supplementary Retirement Plan (effective July 1, 2009) (the “ASRP Plan”) as follows:
  
  Article 2.23(c) for the Year 2024, $253,220; Article 2.23(d) for each Year subsequent to 2024, the Supplementary Plan Salary Cap shall be increased by the same percentage as the Year over Year percentage increase in the UAPP Pension Plan Salary Cap as described in Article 2.19 of the ASRP Plan.

AASUA’s proposal ensures that the salary cap for the ASRP continues to increase at the same rate as the salary cap for the UAPP. Our proposal ensures that the ASRP continues to provide a stable benefit over time.

The Employer’s revised monetary proposal

In response, The Employer has not yet offered the basic compensation proposal we believe is mandated by the government. Instead, they have offered AASUA members less in Across-The-Board increases to the salary grid. This is the Employer’s proposal:

SALARY PROPOSAL

• 1st year:  3% ATB applied to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 2nd year: 3% ATB applied to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 3rd year: 2% ATB applied to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.
• 4th year: 2% ATB applied to all base salaries, and salary scales including mins, maxes, and increment values.

The Employer’s salary offer would fail to provide competitive salaries for academic staff and would not counteract the erosion of our salaries under inflation.

ACADEMIC BENEFITS PLAN PROPOSALS

Effective July 1, 2024:

• The annual per capita funding for the Academic Benefits Plan shall be increased effective July 1, 2024 (and each subsequent July 1 in the renewal collective agreement, as applicable) by the same percentage increase as the year over year percentage increase in Edmonton’s CPI, as determined by Statistics Canada.

The Employer’s Benefit Plan proposal almost certainly would lead to benefit cuts and even possibly the elimination of certain benefits within the next two years. In addition, co-pay and/or co-premiums could be introduced in the next round of bargaining.

ACADEMIC SUPPLEMENTARY RETIREMENT PLAN (ASRP) SALARY CAP

• The ASRP Salary Cap for 2024 and thereafter will be fixed at $220,668.

Under the Employer’s proposal, the Employer’s annual contribution to the ASRP will steadily decline and almost certainly will end within the next two years. 

Comparing proposals on the whole

AASUA and the Employer remain far apart when it comes to key issues such as maintaining the existing benefits plan, maintaining Academic Supplementary Retirement Plan (ASRP) Benefits, Patentable Intellectual Property, promotions for Librarians, Improved conversion for Academic Teaching Staff (ATS) and elimination of the two-tiered ATS salary scale, and Professional Expense Reimbursement for Trust/Research Academic Staff Members. 

Please see this helpful slide from our Lead Negotiator Cherie Klassen for a quick comparison of where we are in negotiations:

Despite the clear rationale for AASUA’s proposals, the Employer has repeatedly shown us that they simply don’t feel like moving towards agreement in these areas. 

AASUA files Bad Faith Bargaining Complaint against Employer

As members know, bargaining escalated in late March when informal mediation failed. AASUA has just filed an Unfair Labour Practice complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board to address what we view as the Employer negotiating in bad faith, contrary to law and in breach of our Charter rights. We will provide an additional update shortly. 

The parties are not yet at impasse, and neither have initiated formal mediation yet, which is a necessary step before the AASUA could hold a strike vote. However, it is clear the Employer is entrenched on key issues that are vital to the membership and accordingly to the world-class education and research at this university. 

Result of Town Hall Survey

We would like to share that 94% of survey participants polled at the recent bargaining town halls have indicated that the AASUA should reject the Employer’s current proposal. Further, these survey participants also overwhelmingly indicated that they would vote yes in a strike vote to work toward achieving AASUA’s bargaining goals.

A strike vote is certainly a step that AASUA is preparing for, and we appreciate members sharing their thoughts with us at our recent bargaining town halls on the existing proposals. The feedback was very encouraging and indicated our Negotiating Team is on the right path.