News 19/01/10

1. General Membership Meetings
2. One-Time Only Special Voluntary Retirement Package for LUFA Members
3. Ergonomics
4. Lakehead Protest
5. Support Signs Available

General Membership Meetings: The LUFA Board has set the dates for the three general membership meetings required by the Constitution. They are Wednesday October 21, 2009, Tuesday February 23, 2010 and Wednesday April 7, 2010. Each meeting is scheduled between 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Mark your calendars now!!

One-Time Only Special Voluntary Retirement Package for LUFA Members : Just prior to the Xmas break, Administration brought to LUFA a package of retirement incentives for those who are or will be 65 this coming July 1. LUFA is currently studying the proposal.

A decision will be reached about whether to accept it or not, at a special Board meeting to be held on Friday, January 22nd . Those affected, or potentially affected, are invited to a special information, question and answer session starting at 9:30 in the West residence, Room in W-130 .After this information session, the Board will deliberate and vote on the offer.

Ergonomics: In October and early November, the needs of over 50 members—including two from Georgian—were assessed by an ergonomist with a view to providing proper office equipment.

Given that the price of furniture has gone up significantly since the first round, the end cost of all equipment required came to about $75,000—a figure about $25,000 in excess of what is available.

The university has agreed to draw on the $25,000 allocated for this project in 2010-2011 which means that almost all requests on file will be filled. Part of the worry, of course, is that furniture prices may continue to rise and we will get a bigger bang for our buck by acting now.

Ray Coutu, the university’s purchasing guru expects that furniture will be installed during study week—although deadlines are tight. Once change from the last round is that the furniture supplier may visit offices just to confirm that the furniture ordered will fit.

Lakehead Protest: On December 21, Ashley Thomson representing LUFAPPUL joined representatives of over 30 faculty associations across Canada, Jim Turk from CAUT as well as Mark Langer and Henry Mandlebaum from OCUFA to help over 300 members of the Lakehead University Faculty Association (LUFA) protest the four days of unpaid furlough (December 21-24) that Lakehead University’s Board of Governors ordered all Lakehead employees to take.

The savings were deducted from the December pay check of each employee, and for faculty the minimum deduction was about $1,000. And a Merry Christmas to all.The Lakehead faculty association has of course launched a major grievance on this matter alleging a violation of their collective agreement.

Jim Turk commented that "This is the most flagrant violation of collective agreements we’ve seen in this country…A number of universities are claiming they’re in financial trouble. No other university has acted unilaterally like Lakehead has. If Lakehead gets away with it, then it will be an action imitated by other universities across Canada."

OFUFA president Mark Langer said a precedent will be set but he’s confident it will be a positive one for faculty associations in the province. "I’m convinced the management at Lakehead is going to fail in what they’re doing," he said. "I think the eventual outcome of this will be the management of this university will have squandered hundreds of thousands of dollars on legal action that will have no positive effect on giving this university what it’s after. I’m hoping this will be a negative example for other universities across the province."

Support Signs Available: The LUFA Office has several signs which read “Sudbury Supports Our Working Families…fairdealnow. ca“. Members who would like a poster to place in their office or on their property are asked to contact Christina in the office at ext 4290.