Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2021 1:31 PM
To: apsa-members
Subject: Update on the Mediated Agreement with SFU

 

This message is sent on behalf of David Agosti, president of APSA.

Dear APSA members,

After a week-long mediation and ongoing negotiations spanning another three weeks, SFU and APSA have finally negotiated a settlement for the disputed items in the Colin Taylor Award.

Late last week, you may have seen an email on this topic from SFU Labour Relations. We waited until now to notify you as we were waiting for the mediator to finish 100% of his work.

You can read the full content of the award here.

(This is the complete settlement document — SFU posted an edited version on its website).

We are happy with the award, because it provides meaningful timelines and specific language on:

  • A market survey
  • Job evaluation
  • Contract negotiations
  • An overall compensation strategy

Each of these items is crucial for you, so we’ll be sending out communications specific to each individual item over the next few weeks.

While we achieved almost everything that we asked for, it is disappointing that it took almost six years (the Colin Taylor Award was made in 2015), a lengthy mediation/arbitration, and we’re still not done.

During the mediation process, the mediator/arbitrator ordered the University to release a significant number of documents. Through those documents, APSA became aware that the University had withheld a large amount of critical information: including information that showed that SFU had neither been transparent nor worked jointly on the analysis of APSA salary comparisons, as had been previously agreed.

As president, it frustrates me that I have to make the above statement. As a professional association, we want to have a collegial relationship with SFU. All of you work hard to promote this institution as a leader in areas like equity and engagement. That’s why it’s so discouraging to learn that SFU wasn’t forthright and didn’t engage with you, our members, in this way. In order for you to have a clear understanding of what transpired, I’ll be sending out communications specific to each of the sections of the mediated settlement, providing clarification, transparency and next steps that will be taken by us.

I’m hopeful that through this mediation process, SFU will be more transparent and collaborative, that they will meet their timelines and commitments, and that we’ll have no further need to return to the arbitrator. At the same time, if SFU doesn’t hold to its commitments, we’ll engage with mediator/arbitrator Bob Pekeles to rectify the matter.

Sincerely,

David Agosti

President, APSA