APSA and SFU negotiated the Basic Agreement from January 15 to 19 and February 1 and were in mediation from April 15 to 17. Chris Sullivan, the mediator, released mediated recommendations on May 16, which the APSA board of directors approved. The amendments will now go to the APSA members for ratification.

In the 2019 round of bargaining, APSA brought forward a robust set of proposals, many of which the University said could not be bargained at compensation negotiations but should instead be brought forward in Basic Agreement Negotiations.

APSA then notified the University that we wanted to commence Basic Agreement Negotiations; the University also counter-notified us to do the same a few days later. Both parties agreed to delay re-forming the Joint University Affairs Committee until Basic Agreement Bargaining was resolved.

Here are the recommendations from mediator Chris Sullivan:

  1. Section 2.4:  APSA to withdraw its proposal regarding “exclusive” representation and language to remain the same.
  2. Section 3.2:  The Basic Agreement be changed to include a 14.8% cap or ratio, in place of the current 10%.
  3. Sections 9.1 and 9.2: The University to withdraw its proposal and language to remain the same. Arbitrator Dorsey’s “Protocol for Reactivated JUAC” be implemented, with time frames contained therein to be amended as follows: …The following additional rules and procedures will apply to the operations of JUAC beginning July 1, 2024…  3. No later than August 1, 2024, APSA and the University shall appoint a Facilitator to work with the members of JUAC for the 13 months beginning August 1, 2024. If no agreement on a Facilitator is reached by August 1, 2024, the Associate Chair of Adjudication and Mediation, Labour Relations Board shall be asked to appoint a Facilitator.
  4. Practice guidelines for “Meaningful Consultation”: I recommend that this topic be addressed at an upcoming JUAC meeting and developed and resolved by the parties involved in 14 that process. During the course of these mediation proceedings, there was little or no objection regarding the reasonableness of the guidelines proposed by APSA. However, the practice/behavioral guidelines do not lend themselves to being part of the Basic Agreement.
  5. I recommend the Basic Agreement expires on December 31, 2025, and be renewed annually thereafter, with the existing six-month notice period. This duration should allow for the reactivation of a functioning JUAC to address issues in the manner they were intended to be addressed. 

The board recently agreed to and approved the recommended changes to the Basic Agreement. However, these amendments will need to be ratified by the members. APSA will hold an online information session before opening up voting over a two-week period. More information to come.

Here is the current version of the Basic Agreement.