(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

students concerned of potential impacts

Red Deer Polytechnic staff and faculty looking at strike if negotiations don’t improve

Mar 19, 2022 | 1:21 PM

Staff and faculty job action at Red Deer Polytechnic could be on the horizon.

rdnewsNOW has learned that contract negotiations between the institution, and the three unions which represent different groups of workers there, have not been going swimmingly.

The school’s faculty association, which functions as a union, represents about 350 instructors, counsellors and librarians, while CUPE Local 1445 represents approximately 100 staff in human resources, campus management, the library, financial services, and student services.

Both have been without a new contract since mid-2019.

Ken Heather, Faculty Association of Red Deer Polytechnic (FARDP) president, and apprenticeship welding instructor, says negotiations could go either way at this point, and while they’re hoping for an agreement, staff are encouraged to prepare for that not to be the case.

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“Workload is an issue. If workload goes up, that’s an automatic hit to what you’re earning because you’re working more,” says Heather, who’s been at the institution for 25 years. “All I can say right now is that what’s been offered at this moment is a deal that includes some increases to workloads.”

Heather, who rdnewsNOW contacted, points out that although the previous contract is still being used until a new one is in place, lots has changed over three years.

“The longer things drag out, the less both parties are understanding of where things sit with certain wording in the collective agreement,” he explains. “We assumed three years ago that we’d have students in front of us and be face-to-face for the majority of programming. Some of our programs have been blended for years, but only maybe 10 per cent of all of them. Now, almost all of them offer some type of hybrid delivery model, and that’s a big change. It’s something both parties recognize and need to think about in terms of how that impacts what we do on a daily basis.”

Trina Carroll, CUPE Alberta alternate area vice president, and president for Local 1445, says as of January 20, 2022, the two parties had come to an impasse.

“Bargaining has not been as successful as CUPE had hoped it would be. I’ve been in this position for eight years and we couldn’t be any further apart,” says Carroll, also the Admin Officer for Fitness and Sports Services at RDP. “ An application was made to the labour board for exemption from being essential services, and it was granted to us on March 8.”

That exemption is a necessary step before CUPE members can strike.

As for the AUPE, which represents around 250 support staff at RDP, negotiations aren’t quite as near to job action as the faculty association and CUPE, but could be headed that way, says Local president Terry Oakley. The AUPE has been without a new contract since mid-2020, he shares.

If RDP staff and faculty were to strike, it would follow a similar occurrence at the University of Lethbridge, where faculty association members have been on strike since Feb. 10.

Until 2022, there’d never been a strike at an Alberta post-secondary, Heather points out. At Concordia University in Edmonton, 82 faculty went on strike in January. Mount Royal avoided one at the eleventh hour, via mediation in February, and staff at the U of A reached an agreement earlier this month.

rdnewsNOW reached out to Red Deer Polytechnic for a statement on how they see negotiations.

Mara-Lee Moroz, Executive Director, People and Culture at RDP, says the institution always strives for parties to maintain relations at the table, and focus on working together to achieve a deal.

“The objective of the collective bargaining process is for the parties to meet and discuss issues related to the existing collective agreement and to conclude with a mutually agreeable collective agreement that both parties can ratify with their respective stakeholders,” says Moroz.

“There are three collective bargaining units at Red Deer Polytechnic, and we are currently in negotiations with all three. The most recent meeting with CUPE was held in January 2022, and we look forward to meeting with AUPE and with FARDC(P), our faculty bargaining unit, on our scheduled dates this spring.”

The Students’ Association of Red Deer Polytechnic also provided a statement, saying students and their success are of utmost importance. A specific spokesperson was not available as the association is currently undergoing elections.

“If there is a possibility of a faculty strike at RDP, the Association encourages all parties involved to come to a resolution that does not disrupt the student experience, especially this close to finals,” the statement says. “After a very turbulent two years of dealing with the pandemic, our students need to finish their semester without more disruption. The Students’ Association hopes this matter can be resolved quickly – with no impact on our students.”