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The OLRB turned down a request from UW management that there be a mail-in vote for faculty members who are on sabbatical leave or otherwise away from UW next week. That means that only people who turn up at the polls in person can vote.
Everyone covered by the faculty association's certification application can vote, but votes cast by anyone whose status is "disputed" will be kept aside until OLRB hearings that are scheduled to start May 13. That means the result of the certification vote won't be known at least until mid-May.
People whose status is "disputed" includes -- among others -- department chairs, professional librarians, regular faculty who work less than 50 per cent of full time, language instructors, teaching assistants, demonstrators, and teachers on sessional appointments.
That leaves full-time faculty, and part-time faculty who work more than 50 per cent of the time, in the category of regular voters.
A notice from the labour board, advising employees of the vote, is being posted across campus today. The text will be available through UWinfo, under "Documents", later today. The notice says in part:
If employees believe that they are eligible to vote, or have any question as to their eligibility to vote, they should attend at a polling place and identify themselves to the Board Officer conducting the vote. If eligibility to vote is unclear, or in dispute, employees will be given an opportunity to mark a ballot, but it will be segregated, meaning it will be sealed in a separate envelope, until eligibility to vote has been determined.Faculty association president Ian Macdonald has issued a brief statement responding to the letter sent across campus this week by the president and provost of the university. He says in part:
Certification ensures true collegiality by requiring a collective bargaining process where equals meet at the bargaining table. Where we differ from the Administration is in our conviction that collegiality is strengthened if the decisions on terms and conditions of employment are made by negotiation between FAUW and the Administration, not unilaterally by the Administration. . . .Many faculty regard certification as a form of insurance. They sense that the situation of the universities is likely to be very difficult in the future. The Harris government has increased the possibility of a financial exigency with lay-offs, raised the profile of workload issues, and increased the threat to tenure, academic freedom, and sabbaticals. The need for a strong collective agreement in a legal framework in these critical areas is essential. We are well behind other universities in these areas.
The launch will come at a reception on Parliament Hill next Tuesday evening. It was originally scheduled to be held in early winter, but postponed because Parliament took a long recess. Knowles himself, who had a 41-year career as an MP, is expected to be there along with current MPs and other dignitaries.
As announced last year, the Knowles chair is to bring prominent Canadians to St. Paul's and UW to lecture on major national issues.
Chris Redmond -- credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca
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