Negotiations
Joint University/Association Committee: JUAC has been meeting monthly to discuss and attempt to resolve matters of mutual concern as may arise. These matters may include updates to legislation, flexible working conditions, and other issues that can affect APSA members’ terms and conditions of employment and work-life at SFU. This committee has updated several policies, which both APSA and SFU have ratified.
Joint Compensation Review Committee: In the 2015 round of negotiations, Colin Taylor arbitrated an award in favour of APSA. The committee collaborates on market comparisons, salaries, and other total compensation components as mandated by the award. The arbitrator did not issue a decision in three years and recused himself. The University has decided that this committee no longer needs to meet, and there has been no agreement on recommendations. APSA’s position is that there is still work to be completed. We are seeking a new arbitrator to hear our case. Learn more about the JCRC here.
Salary and Benefits Committee: SFU and the Salary and Benefits Committee will begin bargaining the week of January 12, 2026. The key spokespersons for APSA and SFU have completed the protocol agreement and the preliminary schedule of bargaining dates.
Grievances
APSA has filed two grievances based on Article 9.2 of our Basic Agreement. These grievances concern the professional development fund reimbursement payout for temporary members from our last round of bargaining, and the University’s aggregation of sick leave for concurrent illnesses. We are working to resolve these disputes with SFU.
APSA advocates have several ongoing grievances and investigations regarding accommodations, return to work, hours of work, and bullying and harassment. Due to confidentiality issues, we can’t provide any details. Please see this infographic, “Life of a Grievance,” to learn more about how the grievance process works.
Meetings with Senior Leadership
APSA has continued to meet with SFU’s senior leadership on various topics, including discrepancies in Hybrid Work, job security, and the state of SFU’s finances. Most recently, we discussed issues with the Volunteer Retirement Program.
SFU Budget
On April 16, the University sent a message to all staff on its financial challenges and presented its forecasted balanced budget for 2024-2025 in its 2024–25 Budget Book. SFU has released its actuals for the 2023-2024 fiscal year, which we include here.
Andrew Boden has written about the budget issues and the concerns surrounding the 2023-2024 SFU Budget.
In discussions with SFU senior administration on December 2, 2024, we learned that the University remains very concerned about the Federal government’s changes to the cap on study permits and their impact on SFU’s international tuition revenue, among other revenue streams. The administration continues to lobby the Federal government and the new NDP government in B.C. to mitigate the effects on SFU and the post-secondary sector in general. Budget cuts are expected to continue in 2025-2026.
On January 23, 2025, the SFU Provost Office announced that it would be closing the Vancity Office of Community Engagement and SFU’s Office of Community Engagement. This resulted in several APSA position eliminations and CUPE layoffs. SFU cited budget issues as the reason for closing these offices. APSA is investigating this further.
APSA has been pressing the University on the budget and is reviewing its responses. We will give a more detailed account in the following newsletter.
APSA continues to receive position eliminations on a department-by-department basis with notification from HR.
Annual Donation to the SFU Food Pantry
About two years ago, the APSA Board began allocating $500 a year from the APSA budget to make donations to the community. The idea is to help embed APSA more in community life and create goodwill for our organization. This year, the previous Board elected to donate $500 to SFU’s Food Pantry, which supports students in need, among others.
Pay period for SFU Reminder
SFU is shifting the salaried pay period by one week so that salaries are calculated after the pay period ends rather than in advance. You will not lose any pay due to this change.
What this means is that instead of the usual bi-weekly pay days on December 24, January 9 and 23, salaried employees will be paid:
December 24: Two weeks of pay for Dec 14–27 (unchanged)
January 9: One week of pay for December 28–January 3
January 16: One week of pay for Jan 4–10
January 30: Two weeks of pay for Jan 11–24
After January 30: Regular bi-weekly pay schedule resumes (e.g., February 13, February 27, etc.)
*Please note that everyone’s pay is unique, and this is an example. For hourly employees, your pay will reflect your actual time worked, as entered and approved in the timekeeping system.