The SFU Faculty Association (SFUFA) is pursuing certification, which would make the SFUFA a bargaining unit recognized by the BC Labour Relations Board. This move follows in the footsteps of the University of Victoria, whose faculty association voted to unionize on January 24.
According to SFUFA president, Neil Abramson, the SFU administration currently allows the SFUFA to bargain on behalf of professors. However, that power is dependant on SFU administration and could be revoked.
“The issue about where you get your power from is that if your power comes from the university administration and they might get seriously pissed off at you, they could withdraw that [power],” said Abramson. “Whereas if you’re a union, you’re recognized by the Labour Relations Board.”
However, he is careful to point out that the push for certification is not due to a strained relationship with administration, or animosity, as was the case with UVic: “We have a very positive relationship with our administration, and we’ve had the whole time I’ve been involved, which is about 17 years now.”
Abramson added, “We’re not doing it because we’re unhappy about what the administration is doing; we’re doing it because our administration just doesn’t have the horsepower to help us.”
However, he does lay some blame on the Public Sector Employers’ Council (PSEC), the provincial regulatory body in labour relations.
Abramson noted that he was initially against certification and had tried to negotiate interest arbitration — in which an arbitrator can pick a compromise between the two sides — rather than having to choose a side, as SFU currently must. Allegedly, SFU administration was willing to accept, but PSEC proposed conditions that were unfavorable.
“We’re doing it because our administration just doesn’t have the horsepower to help us.”
– Neil Abramson, SFUFA President
“All of administration supported us [. . .] about interest arbitration but they had to confirm with PSEC whether that was a possibility or not and they said yeah [. . .] but one of the factors has to be that they absolutely can’t go any higher than what PSEC has dictated,” said Abramson.
He added, “Our lawyers said don’t take that because that’s even worse than what you got now.”
In a statement released online, SFU vice-president, academic and provost Jonathan Driver said that SFU administration has taken a neutral position on certification. “The relationship with SFUFA has been one of cooperation and mutual respect and, regardless of the outcome of this process, the administration remains committed to ensuring it remains so,” stated Driver. However, he said certification “would put the relationship on a different legal footing.”
Said Abramson, “Nothing is likely to change except we will have some extra places [where] we can talk to [the administration] and ask them to listen to us.”
Unionization was first brought up in a SFUFA meeting last spring, and now it appears that most faculty are behind certification. In an electronic poll over Christmas, 45 per cent of faculty voiced their opinions on the issue, as compared to the 35 per cent estimated to respond. However, Abramson believes that 10 to 15 per cent of faculty could be against unionization.
Although the SFUFA were initially planning to vote in the fall, they have decided to do so sooner. Abramson is hoping to be certified by June, with a vote by the end of the month, but the vote itself is up to Labour Relations. “We’ll see what happens,” he concluded.
