U of M Needs to Reach Agreement with Its Workforce

Manitoba Federation of Labour President Darlene Dziewit has called on the University of Manitoba to end the labour turmoil it is responsible for causing. She says it's time for the university to get serious about reaching fair agreements with the men and women who make their educational institution function.

"The university's history of aggression has carried over to the bargaining table and forced support staff represented by the Canadian Autoworkers (CAW) onto the picket line in a struggle for a fair collective agreement," Dziewit (left) said.

On October 4, the Manitoba Labour Board issued its "reasons for decision" related to a sternly worded decision made last January on several unfair labour practice charges filed by both the University of Manitoba Faculty Association and the university. The fact that the decision is so strongly worded in favour of UMFA's position and the fact that all three representatives (one representing labour, one representing employers and a neutral chair) agreed on it speaks volumes.

During the term of the last collective agreement, the university tried to unilaterally remove a number of UMFA members - term instructors with coaching responsibilities - without any consultation whatsoever with the union. These members were threatened and not offered any opportunity to speak to their union.

The Board declared the university guilty of committing an unfair labour practice and said the university's "improper considerations were deliberate and calculated". The Board declared, "Such actions do not encourage healthy or stable bargaining relationships and they clearly undermine and inhibit a union's capacity to engage in meaningful representation of its members."

"This kind of blatant disregard of basic union rights is outrageous," Dziewit says. "One might expect it of a small, unsophisticated employer who has no experience or who has not sought legal advice. However, the University of Manitoba administration is a very sophisticated employer who must have known it was violating one of the founding principles of labour relations, that being the right of union members to representation. It appears the employer just didn't give a damn. Nothing was going to stand in its way.

"In my 30 year history as a labour relations practitioner, I have never before seen a Labour Board decision that so clearly, and graphically describes an employer's bad behaviour. This rebuke makes it crystal clear why CAW members have been forced onto the picket line. In order for meaningful, fruitful collective bargaining to occur, there must be respect on both sides."