Instructors in the faculties of Management and Social and Applied Sciences at Royal Roads University, along with the schoolB次元官网网址檚 librarians, have signed a historic five-year agreement with the school, which sees them under a negotiated contract through April of 2019.
The agreement provides a 5.5-per-cent wage increase over the term of the contract B次元官网网址� which is about all they could expect to receive under the provinceB次元官网网址檚 Economic Stability Mandate. According to Dr. Kenneth Christie, president of the schoolB次元官网网址檚 faculty association and professor in the School of Humanitarian Studies, 80 per cent of their members voted, and voted unanimously to ratify the deal, which says something about how they feel about the offer.
B次元官网网址淭his agreement is something of a milestone,B次元官网网址� Christie said. B次元官网网址淣ormally agreements go from year to year, or maybe two years at the maximum, but this oneB次元官网网址檚 for five years.B次元官网网址�
The contract terms are backdated to April 1, 2014.
B次元官网网址淲e achieved an awful lot. ItB次元官网网址檚 probably the best collective agreement weB次元官网网址檝e ever had. We wanted to get research leave B次元官网网址� in other places itB次元官网网址檚 known as sabbatical. We were the only university in Canada that didnB次元官网网址檛 have research leave,B次元官网网址� Christie said.
Royal Roads is internationally renowned for the research done by its faculty and students. They were a founding member of the Research Universities Council of B.C. B次元官网网址� the province now has six such schools with the addition of Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops two years ago. So how did Royal Roads not have research leave funding built into their contracts already?
B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got to understand,B次元官网网址� Christie said, B次元官网网址渨hen the university was set up, it was set up as a teaching university, it wasnB次元官网网址檛 set up as a research university. The research aspect has developed over the years. So that was a sticking point (in the contract discussions) in that there has been a cultural change and the contract needed to reflect that.B次元官网网址�
Faculty will, under this new agreement, receive three months research leave at 100 per cent of their pay and six months at 80 per cent.
ThatB次元官网网址檚 worth far more to them than a pay increase, Christie said.
B次元官网网址淲e thought that if we were getting the research (aspect of the deal), we wouldnB次元官网网址檛 go crazy over asking for wage increases.B次元官网网址�
You donB次元官网网址檛 get something for nothing in a contract negotiation, however, but Christie said that what they had to give up in getting the deal done was actually quite reasonable.
B次元官网网址淭hey wanted us to use up our banked vacation leave. People had been accruing their vacation time, and that accrues into a fixed sum of money. It was up over $7 million. ItB次元官网网址檚 not rocket science that they had a big liability there.B次元官网网址�
Other gains, according to Christie, were a new retirement policy, a new librarian wage scale and clarified language in terms of appointment and promotion details, so that there is a clear structure in terms of who gets which promotions and faculty appointments.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e happy with it,B次元官网网址� he said, B次元官网网址渁nd (the university is) extremely happy with it. I donB次元官网网址檛 think we could have gotten a better deal at the moment.B次元官网网址�
Steve Grundy, vice-president academic of the university, agrees.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 absolutely delighted we managed to get this done,B次元官网网址� he said, adding he expected no less when discussions began last summer. He said the school and its instructors have developed an excellent relationship over the past decade or so.
B次元官网网址淭he negotiations went really well, which is something that canB次元官网网址檛 be said for much of the sector these days.B次元官网网址�
