Bargaining Update

In the last week both the Saskatchewan government and the Star Phoenix reported that the Saskatchewan economy is still doing well compared to the rest of the country.

• Saskatchewan continues to have the lowest unemployment rate and the strongest year-over-year job growth in Canada. "The good news is - there are a lot more people working in Saskatchewan than there were at this time a year ago, and Saskatchewan's economy continues to weather the economic storm much better than every other province in Canada," Premier Brad Wall said.

The University of Saskatchewan and the Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association (ASPA) are pleased to announce that they have reached agreement on clarified pay ranges for their new Collective Agreement. These pay ranges preserve the salary spread of each pay range as originally established in 2004.

ASPA Salary Ranges 2008-2011

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently reported that Canada will weather the global economic storm better than many industrialized countries. This is a positive indication for ASPA members and the campus community because the University of Saskatchewan uses IMF economic projections for University planning purposes. Vice-President Richard Florizone referred to the IMF as his source of economic projections in the recent Town Hall meeting.

View the video of VP Florizone at the Town Hall.

To read more about these IMF projections, see the full story on the CBC website.

Implementation of our new Collective Agreement, ratified in December by the members of ASPA and the Board of Governors, continues.

The effective "date of signing" for the agreement is being taken to be December 12, 2008. Articles of the new agreement that refer to the date of signing take effect as of that date.

Payment to members of financial provisions of the agreement are dependent on the date of signing, have already begun and include the following:

• The signing bonus for active employees has already been paid at the end of January;

• Adjustments to pay rates of individual members to reflect the 4% general salary increase and the 2% incremental increase, where applicable, followed at the end of February;

During the recent round of collective bargaining, the University and ASPA filed Unfair Labour Practice applications with the Saskatchewan Labour Relations Board. Recently, the University approached ASPA with a proposal that the parties agree to mutually withdraw those applications.

ASPA has agreed with the University's proposal, in keeping with the Preamble to our Collective Agreement:

On Friday, the Provincial Government opened the New Year with an upbeat look at the province's economic prospects for the year 2009. To read the complete article, see:

http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=7e6a5bd3-3fcb-49e6-8b50-eda1aa1942ce

Premier Brad Wall said 2008 has been a remarkable year for Saskatchewan's economy. Furthermore, because of actions taken this year, our province is well-positioned to continue strong and steady growth in 2009 and beyond.

The Unfair Labour Practice filed by ASPA against the University is now available for viewing.

Unfair Labour Practice Filing (PDF)

ASPA's new contract with the University is now ratified, both by ASPA members through the vote held last Thursday, and by the University's Board of Governors the following day. Next steps to conclude the agreement center around the drafting of the entire new Collective Agreement which incorporates changes to language and organization as agreed at the bargaining table. This will be done jointly by the respective bargaining teams who will then formally sign the completed Collective Agreement. The full Agreement will then be made publicly available.

Arrangements to carry through with payment of the signing bonus, retroactive-pay, and new salaries will be made in due course, and will be communicated when they are known.

Announcing the results of the vote taken by ASPA members today, December 11.

Are you in favour of the University's Offer To Settle?

Total Votes Cast: 690
Yes - 51.6%
No - 48.4%

Further information to follow.

As follow-up to the Joint Communication from December 1, 2008, regarding ASPA Bargaining, the location and times for the Thursday, December 11 general membership meetings and vote will be as follows:

Location: Biology 106

Times: 10:00 - 11:30 AM or
3:00 - 4:30 PM

Please note each meeting time will have the same format. The two different times are intended to accommodate varying work schedules.

There is no need to RSVP for these meetings.

To view the offer, please see the following links for further details:
ASPA: http://www.aspasask.ca
Human Resources: http://www.usask.ca/hrd/memos/bargaining_updates.php