LCFA Jan 2019 General Meeting Recap
Jan 28th - General Meeting Recap
Faculty Newsletter
Jan 28th, 2019 – General Meeting Recap
Thanks to those who attended the general meeting, and to Jennifer Davis for providing some clarity around the process related to the extension of the presidents contract.
*Ron Macdonald Fund update
*International Students
*Board report
*ACIFA report
*ACIFA Conference
*Finance Report
*Negotiations report MOTION; To hold a special information session February 11th at 4:15.
*Labor Relations Complaint
*DL issues
The faculty association has donated $5000 to the Ron Macdonald fund in addition to the almost $700 raised at the used book sale before Christmas. There are still plans to do a Taco-in-a-bag in support of the fund.
There is a great deal of work being done to support students, faculty and staff as we all deal with the increase in international students. Many of these efforts are long term and will not be apparent to those working directly with students through this year. Contact the faculty association for more details.
Dr Burns has applied to renew her contract. The board has accepted the request and are seeking input to inform their decision. Faculty and AUPE staff are working together to produce a Google form to capture that input. Opinions and comments that are not directly related to the question will not be included. Information that is anonymous will not be used in the evaluation process, however the information going to the committee will be compiled on behalf of the whole faculty association and personal information will be kept confidential. The information will have to get back to the committee by February 8th , there was some discussion about why the urgency, it was stressed that Dr Burns had submitted her letter some time ago but the committee failed to recognize some requirements of the process. Please watch for the e-mail requesting your input.
Faculty Executive have been very busy with ACIFA. Friday January 18th, I attended a pre-budget meeting in Calgary with the Minister of Advanced Education. It was very clear that all the post-secondary institutions in southern Alberta have the same concerns and issues that we face at Lethbridge College. There was discussion around sustainability, options for efficiencies and even the government influence in the bargaining process. The government pledged to continue “stable and predictable funding” as they have provided over the last 4 years. Saturday January 26th 4 members of the faculty executive and negotiating team attended meetings in Edmonton. At professional affairs Cheryl was happy to see members of our association nominated for the provincial awards. The negotiating meeting was primarily a negotiating workshop
The ACIFA conference will be April 28th to 30th at Chateau Lake Louise. Information is available on the ACIFA web site. Lethbridge College Faculty association will be hosting the conference May 7th to 11th 2021 in Banff. We will be looking for people interested in working with the host committee. We would encourage those who might be interested in leading that effort to attend a workshop at the event this year. See Cheryl for details.
Cheryl was once again able to provide a very positive financial report. We have collected roughly 42% of our expected income, with that our strike defense fund for this year is fully funded as well as some other commitments such as the Ron Macdonald fund. Thanks to Cheryl for her continued diligence.
Kerry reported that negotiations have been difficult. The committee can count 720 man hours at the negotiating table and we return to the table in March. The negotiating process is somewhat different under labor relations legislation and with that the negotiating team felt it could share some information with the membership on the process. The following motion was passed;
That a special information meeting be held Monday February 11th at 4:15 for the purpose of updating the membership on the current state of negotiations.
Please attend the meeting where Kerry and the negotiating team are prepared to provide information and answer questions.
Administration have made a significant change (reduction) to pay on casual contracts. It is the opinion of our lawyer that this contravenes section 147 of the labor relations act which states an employer cannot change conditions of employment while negotiating. There will be a resolution meeting February 18thand if required a hearing April 8th for the Labor Relations Board to consider the matter. There was some discussion about the legality of the current letters that serve as contracts. We will ask questions of our lawyer on your behalf.
DL courses have been cancelled with very little notice. There has been discussion about striking a committee to address the questions around Distance delivery. Once the details are in place we will be looking for people to staff that committee.
Dic Charge reported the constitution and by laws revision is going well. Executive recognizes the approval process due to the large project undertaken here may prove to be time consuming. Currently the procedure for changing by-laws requires that we present the motion at the general meeting, supply the changes at least 20 days before the AGM and vote to approve the changes at the AGM. In light of the large project before the membership the By-laws committee along with faculty Executive provided the following motion;
MOTION; Move that the By-laws committee in conjunction with Executive council be allowed to convene a special meeting for the sole purpose of discussing, and ratifying the updated Constitution and By-laws.
We will provide information far enough in advance of the date to ensure ample opportunity to review the changes, and hope to ratify the changes at that time. The date of these events will depend on the continued progress of the committee.
Sincerely,
Kevin Wiber
President, Lethbridge College Faculty Association
Instructor Center for Trades
Automotive Service Technician / Heavy Equipment Technician
403-320-3202 ext. 3264 or 3219
3000 College Drive S., Lethbridge, AB T1K 1L6