Carleton’s academic staff union filed for arbitration Dec. 2 in hopes of settling an ongoing disagreement with the university administration over how the two parties settle grievances.
In a collective agreement between the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA) and the administration, a grievance is defined as “a claim by an employee or a group of employees, by the Association, or by the employer that there has been a violation, misapplication or misinterpretation of the terms of this collective agreement.”
The agreement also contains timelines for the process of dealing with grievances. Angelo Mingarelli, president of CUASA, said the administration has disrespected the timelines. This is why the union has filed for arbitration from an outside party to settle the matter.
Mingarelli said the grievance process has been stalled by the administration’s “manipulation of the rules” and that CUASA has now been “stonewalled to the point where we can’t move forward.”
On Nov. 11 CUASA members voted unanimously to pass a motion to censure the administration for “their total disregard and contempt for the grievance process,” according to a CUASA motion.
A censure in this case is a severe criticism of the behaviour of the administration.
“Whenever one group or even an individual at the university says they’re not happy, it certainly gets my attention,” Carleton’s president Roseann Runte said.
CUASA has three grievances with the administration. The first relates to the right of university departments to decide on the tenure and promotion of staff.
The administration has the right to overturn department decisions if they disagree with them, but Mingarelli said the unit doesn’t feel free to make their own decisions, because there has been “interference by upper management.”
The second grievance relates to an employee “whose grievance has been delayed . . . who’s going to lose her job very soon,” Mingarelli said.
CUASA’s third grievance is about the administration’s handling of the grievance process.
Mingarelli said he emailed Runte about the censure on Nov. 13 and received a reply five days later, asking him to meet with herself, the provost, and the vice-president (finance) to discuss the reasons for the censure.
The slow response to his email and the “lack of urgency” by the administration is the kind of issue CUASA has been facing in trying to settle grievances, Mingarelli said.
He and two other CUASA members met with Runte Nov. 27 to discuss the censure. The provost and the vice-president (finance) did not attend, according to Mingarelli.
He said most of the meeting was spent reviewing the grievances, and he said he asked Runte to reconsider using arbitration to settle them.
Runte said the meeting went well and they will continue to “meet and talk and try to solve problems.”
“I think it’s fair for faculty to call my attention if there’s a problem,” Runte said.
Mingarelli said he has asked Runte for a decision by Dec. 10 on whether the administration would reconsider settling the grievances through arbitration, but that she didn’t make any promises.
