Negotiations 2024
AASUA is the Association of Academic Staff at the University of Alberta created under the Post-Secondary Learning Act. AASUA is the union representing all academic faculty, academic teaching staff, administrative and professional officers, trust/research academic staff, librarians, temporary librarians, and faculty service officers at the University of Alberta. It is the largest post-secondary union in Canada, representing approximately 3900 members.
As the union, AASUA represents academic staff members and is the bargaining agent for all of these constituency groups. It negotiates with the University of Alberta’s Board of Governors, which includes the President and members appointed by the Government of Alberta.
AASUA is run by an Executive of representatives elected by its members and supported by dedicated staff members and labour experts. As well, Council is the body of elected representatives that sets policy for the organization. The union advocates for its members on workplace issues such as compensation and benefits, health and safety conditions, workload, and equity. You can learn more about AASUA here.
AASUA members’ contract expires June 30, 2024. AASUA served notice to the Board of Governors to commence bargaining for a renewed contract earlier this year, kicking off the collective bargaining process. As part of negotiating a new contract, AASUA is looking to improve the working conditions of educators and researchers, and in turn, improve the learning experience at the U of A. The issues in this round of bargaining centre around equity and fairness, working conditions, and compensation. You can hear directly from AASUA Executive why this round of bargaining matters for librarians, educators, researchers, and academic administrators by going here.
Yes. AASUA is committed to negotiating an agreement that is fiscally sound, economically sustainable, and invests strategically to strengthen the University of Alberta and make it a better place for researchers and educators to do their work, and for students to learn and grow.
The University of Alberta has taken massive cuts in provincial funding in the past few years, but the Board of Governors has made demands based on their own priorities, not because of the cuts. For the last fiscal year (2022-23), the University ran a surplus of over $72.3M, with an accumulated surplus of $2.1 BILLION. This leaves a great deal of room to meet what AASUA is asking for. The below-competitive salaries of AASUA members are not creating any budget crisis; rather the administration is using the provincial funding cuts as a pretext to redistribute resources to higher levels through the restructuring process.
- Lead Negotiator, Cherie Klassen
- Brian Fleck, Professor, Faculty of Engineering
- Valentina Kozlova, Full Teaching Professor, Faculty of Arts
- Camille Laforest, Collection Strategies Librarian
- Gordon Swaters, AASUA President, ex officio
With resource persons:
- Brygeda Renke, Executive Director & General Counsel
- Leanne Rosinski, Associate Director, Labour Relations
- Aly Koskela, Senior Labour Relations Officer
- Kelly MacFarlane, Full Teaching Professor, Faculty of Arts
- Beth Powell, Full Lecturer, Faculty of Science