A question of respect

The collective agreement between the Association of Professors and Librarians of Université Sainte-Anne (APPBUSA) expired in July, 2020.  Extended for a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been the subject of negotiations since June 30, 2021.

Collective bargaining is often adversarial: one party wins,  the other loses. This so-called classical perspective discourages agreement and obscures good intentions which the parties may share.

Faced with such a harmful, adversarial reality, APPBUSA calls instead for a consensual approach, driven by the higher interests of our university. The objective is to sign a collective agreement that satisfies the administration, the faculty, and the students, those young people who are so vital to our university. APPBUSA proposes negotiations based on the double principles of respect and equity.

We appeal for university governance that respects the teaching staff: for an administration guided by principles of collegiality and transparence. Many of the demands made by APPBUSA concern collective participation in decision-making committees with real impact on the university.  Moving beyond appearances and simple conformity with the collective agreement, an authentic and constructive collegiality would build the foundations of vital and harmonious campus life.

We advocate as well for equity – fair and equitable working conditions for professors working in Sainte-Anne’s college sector. The fusion of Le Collège de l’Acadie and Université Sainte-Anne is looking a lot like a graft that did not heal. It is imperative to move quickly to correct unjust anomalies affecting college faculty.

In the university sector, equity is also an issue.  To realize the vision put forward in the university’s new Strategic Research Plan, faculty workload must be rebalanced.  Our collective agreement could put in place protocols to stimulate and support faculty research: our Strategic Research Plan could become a reality.

The objectives of the faculty association are clear: to negotiate a collective agreement that reflects the modernization of Sainte-Anne, in relation both to the challenges of the pandemic, and to those challenges we will face in the post-pandemic world.  APPBUSA intends to negotiate a visionary collective agreement that will allow our institution, so dear to all, to emerge even stronger.

Association des professeurs, professeures et bibliothécaires de l’Université Sainte-Anne (APPBUSA)