February 7th, 2022 Coverage Report (UPDATED).
Initially Posted at 9:30 pm February 7, 2022. Updated at 9:45PM.
Apologies this is late, we are hoping to provide more of a “daily recap” than an “instantaneous” news source
Reports will be posted later in the evenings. Sunday’s information will be carried over to Monday’s report
Contents + TL:DR
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The University of Lethbridge Board of Governors has withdrawn their request mentioned above.
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Press Release Received by CKXU from ULFA. The strike vote passed with 87% of faculty voting. Picketing Could Begin As Early As Thursday, February 10th, 2022.
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The University of Lethbridge Bargaining Page has been updated to alert the uLethbridge Community that ULFA has submitted a notice to strike. The University is expecting a prolonged strike. An email to update students on the strike was sent out.
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ULFA has received notice of a hearing for the unfair labour practice complaint.
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AUPE has sent CKXU a news release regarding the cancellation of their own bargaining session that was planned with the University of Lethbridge that was sent for tomorrow. This is the second time their meeting with the University has been cancelled, causing upset among AUPE members.
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ULFA President Daniel O’Donnell has taken to twitter to share his views and insights on the current state of Post-Secondary Education (PSE) in Alberta.
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CKXU will start interviewing organizations tomorrow! Staff are working overtime to get these reports and interviews completed and we appreciate your patience at this time.
UPDATE: University Administration has Withdrawn its Request to the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) for an “Urgent Hearing” and an “Interim Order.”
Internal ULFA Letter Sent Out Monday Night
Please see the photo below for information on the withdrawal:
University of Lethbridge Faculty Vote 92% in Favour of Strike.
Press Release Received by CKXU.
Earlier today CKXU received a Press Release from ULFA regarding the results of the Strike Vote. Below is an excerpt of the PSA:
University of Lethbridge faculty vote 92% in favour of strike
In a historic first, members of the University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) voted overwhelmingly to authorize strike action in labour negotiations with the University’s Board of Governors.
Picketing Could Begin As Early As Thursday, February 10th, 2022.
Following the Alberta Labour Relations Board’s release of an official tally (results of a vote), labour groups must wait 72 hours before the start of a strike. This 72-hour notice was started around the same time the press release was sent as the release stated the following:
ULFA can now call on its members to begin a strike with 72 hours notice. The union says that it will file the notice immediately, with pickets scheduled to begin Thursday morning, unless the two sides are able to reach a settlement before then.
Internal ULFA Email of the Strike Notice.
We received this email from a student at the University of Lethbridge. It was forwarded to them by a faculty member. This email (sent via Mailchimp) states that the notice to strike has in fact been served to the University of Lethbridge.
Click here to be sent to the entire press release on our CKXU blog. We do not have a link for the email as it was sent directly to us, but we did confirm it is from a ULFA mailing list.
University of Lethbridge Board of Governors Applies for Lockout.
“The University Expects a Prolonged Strike.”
The University of Lethbridge Bargaining page has been updated. Below is an excerpt of the update under the heading “Faculty Association Strike Notice”:
The University of Lethbridge Faculty Association (ULFA) has advised that its members will be on legal strike at 11 a.m., Thursday, February 10, 2022.
A strike will halt all academic instruction and research activities, and profoundly impact our students, employees, families, and community.
Students will have no classes or academic supervision during a strike.
The University expects a prolonged strike, which could threaten our semester. As one of Canada’s pre-eminent post-secondary learning and research institutions, we are duty-bound to protect our students’ interests and access to high-quality education.
The University hopes to proceed in a good-faith bargaining process that avoids strike action and leads to a fair and equitable agreement. We are concerned that recent positions taken by ULFA have been counterproductive to our ability to make progres
Board of Governors Applies for Lockout with Alberta Labour Relations Board.
Additionally, this update states that the University of Lethbridge Board of Governors has applied for a lockout.
In response to the strike notice, the University has also applied to the ALRB for a lockout, which would formally close University workplaces to ULFA members. A lockout ensures a safe and consistent approach to managing the impacts of job action across a large institution with multiple worksites.
You can click here for the entire update on the University of Lethbridge Bargaining Page.
Email of the Notice Sent to Students Via Email.
The following email was sent to students to alert them to the Strike Notice.
We do not have a link for this email but did check with a volunteer who has a student email account that it was in fact sent (CKXU does not receive email updates from the University).
ULFA Alberta Labour Relations Board: Notice of Hearing.
ULFA Sent a Hearing Notice
The following Notice regarding complaint “GE-08666” was served to ULFA today from the Alberta Labour Relations Board. Below is a photo of the notice.
You can find this notice on the ULFA website by clicking here. Presumably, this hearing is regarding the claim from the University of Lethbridge Board of Governors that ULFA is allegedly “refusing to bargain in good faith”. You can read more about that notice by clicking here to be sent to our report covering this complaint notice.
AUPE News Release: Labour Troubles on Two Fronts
AUPE Bargaining Session with the University of Lethbridge Cancelled for the Second Time.
AUPE sent a news release to CKXU today regarding their own bargaining situation with the University of Lethbridge. Their bargaining session, which was scheduled for tomorrow (February 7th, 2022) has been cancelled. Here is an excerpt of the release:
Meanwhile, General Support Services workers at the university were told that bargaining for their new contract, which was scheduled for tomorrow (Tues., Fed. 8), was being cancelled. This is the second time in two weeks the employer has cancelled negotiations with short notice.
“AUPE says cancellation of talks with support staff has angered members.”
Additionally, the media release further goes provides context regarding the impact this cancellation is having on their members:
“The lack of respect shown by the employer to cancel at such short notice has frustrated and angered our members,” says Darren Graham, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents about 500 university support workers.
“This is not the first time we’ve been treated this way, with numerous bargaining dates having been cancelled by the employer in the past. The university administration seems intent on treating its workers poorly, whether in faculty or in support services,” says Graham.
“That approach to bargaining explains why the university is facing labour unrest. The fact that ULFA was having a strike vote was not a surprise. We all knew it was coming. The result of that vote is no excuse to cancel our bargaining dates again.”
Click here to be sent to AUPE’s website for this News Release in full.
Additional Organizations State Their Solidarity With ULFA
Graduate Workers at the University of Calgary and Alberta.
The Graduate Students’ Association of the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary tweeted today their solidarity with ULFA.
Click here to be sent to the tweet, which includes the full solidarity statement letter.
United Nurses of Alberta.
ULFA President Twitter Thread: The Current State of PSE in Alberta.
ULFA President Daniel O’Donnell Speaks Out on his Personal Twitter Account.
In his series of tweets, which you can find on his personal Twitter account by clicking here, ULFA President Daniel O’Donnell presents his views on the current state of Post-secondary Education (PSE) in Alberta.
Interview Update.
CKXU To Start Interviewing Organizations Tomorrow!
We are extremely excited to announce that we have secured interviews with a few organizations. We will begin interviewing tomorrow.
Please note that daily coverage on this level is not the usual situation for CKXU. Many of our staff are working overtime to research information for reports, draft questions for interviews, and record/ transcribe interviews for the public. We appreciate your patience with us at this time.
Please contact [email protected] with any omissions or errors in this report.
Additionally, if your Screenreader is having difficulties reading images on this report, let us know and we will start transcribing them.