Carleton’s teaching assistant union, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 4600, met on July 5 to negotiate the salary clawback situation that left many graduating teaching assistants with a hefty bill.
In February 2012, many graduating TAs had money either taken off their paychecks or charged to their student accounts, due to an accounting error made by university administration.
University policy states if an amount owed is more than $100 then diplomas and official transcripts will be withheld.
About 85 per cent of TAs affected have already paid back the university, media relations co-ordinator Steven Reid said via email.
At the time of the clawback, Carleton did not abide by CUPE 4600’s right to bargain, which is contrary to the school’s agreement with the union, according to a CUPE press release.
“CUPE 4600 was prepared to offer a clear plan that would apply to all TAs equally,” the release said.
“Instead, the employer proceeded with a confusing, constantly changing set of options that were poorly communicated and did not apply to all affected TAs equally.”
The union also stressed that, contrary to their obligations, Carleton has not provided complete information to the union about how many TAs were affected by the clawbacks and how much money they owe.
“This has made it very difficult for CUPE 4600 to adequately defend our member’s interests,” the release said.
CUPE said both parties agreed to meet the week of July 27 to discuss repayment methods for the remaining TAs with outstanding amounts who have financial difficulties.
In the release, the union expressed disappointment that the administration was not penalized for causing the students hardship.
CUPE 4600 president and teaching assistant James Meades was unaffected personally by the clawbacks but expressed his frustration.
“Well, [the salary clawback] certainly hasn’t done anything to improve the way our members view the university as an employer,” Meades said via email.
“The difficulty the union faced was Carleton’s efforts to act unilaterally and to recover the ‘overpayment’ on their terms without really thinking through the impacts it would have on TAs who are already amongst the lowest paid workers on the campus,” Meades said.
Meades said Carleton has told the union that approximately 86 TAs still owe money to the school because of the clawbacks.
Reid said students with particularly large debts have been working with the university to make individual arrangements for the students to meet their repayment obligation.
”We are working to strengthen this relationship. The university has great respect for the difficult situation in which the union had to represent their membership and will work consistently from a basis of respect,” Reid said.
CUPE 4600 was unable to reclaim the money already paid by TAs.
The mediator advised the union not to take the situation into litigation as “the law indicated that the employer had the right to reclaim the money via a fair and reasonable process,” the release said.
Carleton and CUPE also agreed that in the future, the TAs can choose to receive their rebate at the end of each term, and that it will no longer be a taxable benefit.
