FAQ on Union Certification

A union is a democratic organization that engages in collective negotiations (“bargaining”) with the employer in the interests of its members. Almost all faculty associations in Canada are already unions.  Our colleagues at Renison certified as a union in 2020.

Forming a union is a two-step process. First, 40% of potential members of the union must sign a card. These cards are confidentially sent to the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the employer does not see them). Once the 40% threshold has been met, the Board holds a secret ballot vote on campus within five days asking all lecturers whether or not they wish to form a union.  To be successful, the vote must pass by a majority of those who cast ballots (i.e., 50% + 1). Once the vote passes, the association becomes a union (University of Waterloo Teaching Stream Faculty Association or WatTSFA).

You are. When you sign a membership card you become a voting member of the University of Waterloo Teaching Stream Faculty Association (WatTSFA). WatTSFA will have a leadership once one is democratically elected by the union’s membership. At our first meeting of WatTSFA members we will propose and vote on a constitution and by-laws. These foundation documents will need to spell out the process for electing union officers. After the constitution and bylaws are approved and we hold these elections, WatTSFA can apply to the Ontario Relations Board for union certification.

These changes will take time, and still won’t result in bargaining power equal to that which we would gain by certifying. Requests for changes to the MoA and to Policy 1 would require approval from the university administration, which is not guaranteed. Even if the university agreed to review these documents, negotiations are not bound by timelines, there is no dispute resolution mechanism, and there isn’t even a commitment to bargain in good faith. In other words, there is no guarantee of outcomes for this process, and timelines are unknown; think of how many years it’s taking to sort out P76. It’s no secret that the policy review process is broken and, as a result, the vast majority of our policies are quite outdated (see our page on policy development).

FAUW currently does not meet the threshold to qualify as a legal bargaining agent. Before a certification drive can even begin, FAUW would have to make significant structural changes in order to qualify as a bargaining agent. After that stage, we don’t know how long the certification process would take, or if it would be successful. Furthermore, the email communication from FAUW did not include any concrete implementation plans, timelines, and was drafted with little consultation with membership.

In our estimation, the probability of a quick, successful drive is highest for Lecturers as a unique group. As the most precarious faculty members, a strengthened negotiation position is increasingly urgent given the lack of progress on Policy 76 (and policies in general). We already have momentum and have built a grassroots movement that is Lecturer-led and Lecturer-centred.

The University of Waterloo has a common pension plan and benefits programs for employees. This would continue under any collective agreement (see the Renison Association of Academic Staff’s Collective Agreement to see how pensions, benefits and other existing UW policies could be integrated into the language of a collective agreement.

Lecturers Connect began as a website by a few members who wanted to have a place for discussing lecturer-related news, articles and concerns and for supporting one another. We have become a grassroots movement to unionize lecturers at the University of Waterloo. More and more lecturers have gotten involved from across every faculty. If you would like to get involved, please sign up through the website.

The reason that the names of union organizers are not being publicly displayed on this website is to protect our colleagues from explicit/implicit intimidation from the employer. But you will meet one of your colleagues who is an organizer and you are encouraged to ask them any questions you should have. Please also see “Who is WatTSFA?” and feel free to reach out to us.

With a union we will be able to negotiate all aspects of our conditions of work on a regular timeline. This is known as a collective agreement–similar to our current Memorandum of Agreement but encompassing a broader range of issues (e.g., workload, promotion to continuing, etc.). Collective agreements are commonly renegotiated every three years but it could be less or more depending on the needs of the membership.

The current collegial governance model at UW is broken. The administration uses its veto powers under Policy 1 to block or delay new policies from being developed. For example, negotiations on Policy 76 began in 2014! And there are many other policies waiting in queue. The notion that university collegial governance ever worked is somewhat of a myth. Faculty who have led our negotiations with the university administration to date have publicly expressed extreme frustration if not defeat with the current collegial governance model.

The main way we are connected to our colleagues in our departments and across campus is through our everyday working relationships, e.g., discussing pedagogy and research;  departmental meetings and social events; joint presentations at academic conferences; etc. This will not change. In fact, improving the working conditions and raising the overall status of lecturers will bring us more on par with our professorial colleagues.

FAUW does bring us together in the form of committees (e.g., Equity Committee; ) and there is no reason why we couldn’t continue to formally work together on these issues. With collective bargaining, our committees can have an effective tool for advancing their proposals: regular, timely, direct collective negotiations with the employer. This type of work would benefit faculty and staff across campus.

Lecturers make up around 18% of members, but our voices are not proportionally represented. There is limited participation of Lecturers in the Faculty Association. Currently, only one out of 12 seats on the Board is reserved for Lecturers. Beyond that, nothing is guaranteed. Lecturers have no guaranteed seat on the Faculty Association’s Executive Committee (and therefore at the Faculty Relations Committee), no guaranteed positions on Policy Drafting Committees, and no guaranteed positions on negotiation teams.

Forming our own association doesn’t mean that we have to sever all ties with FAUW. We could have a service agreement with FAUW similar to the one that the Renison Association of Academic Staff (RAAS) does. The service agreement would allow for sharing of resources such as staff and finances, and also allows members of each association to sit as ex-officio members on each other’s Boards. There is also the possibility of our association and FAUW forming into a larger union further down the line, assuming FAUW is able to certify. 

No. Certification is one question, and the decision to retain the right to strike or to opt for an alternative dispute resolution mechanism are separate. Both are questions that are wholly in the hands of members, and a decision in favour of one does not automatically mean a decision in favour of the other. 

Keep in mind that a strike–and even the threat of a strike–is a powerful tool during collective negotiations. As we saw with 2023 federal workers’ strike (Public Service Alliance of Canada), a strike can win needed benefits and new protections for workers. But certified unions have access to a range of tools to resolve negotiations, such as: work-to-rule; mediation; and arbitration. Strikes have been rare amongst unionized faculty associations in Canada, though they do happen.
 

Keep in mind that there are four million unionized workers in Canada. While we do hear of strikes in the media, in most cases collective negotiation is resolved without a strike. When a strike becomes necessary, it is usually of short duration.

Lecturers Connect is a group of independent Lecturers with no external affiliations and therefore no external funding. We are grateful to all of our volunteer organizers who are making things happen!

Nobody knows what it’s like to be a Lecturer better than a Lecturer! We believe that Lecturers should have direct say and power in negotiations that affect our working conditions. Rather than asking for seats at the table, we are building our own table.

​

Apart from giving us a clear voice at the bargaining table, forming our own association also allows us to participate more fully in larger associations such as CAUT and OCUFA, where we can send our own delegates and representatives. 

We could also maintain a close relationship with FAUW in the same way that Renison Association of Academic Staff (RAAS) does–e.g., through a service agreement and a non-voting position on the FAUW Board. There is no reason committees could not work together to advance our common interests (e.g., Equity Committee).

As much as we wish that Lecturers and Professors were equal at UW, it’s simply not true. There are inequalities between the streams with respect to workload, salary, participation in university governance, access to benefits, and job protection. As a consequence, many Lecturers have experienced feeling like ‘second-class citizens’ within the faculty ecosystem. Differences between the two faculty ranks already exist; consider who benefits from denying or minimizing them. The illusion of unity does not bring about material equity.

Currently, Lecturers are a minority group within the association; unfortunately, this means that often our concerns go unaddressed. Forming our own association recognizes that these differences exist and gives us a way to meaningfully self-advocate and work toward equity with our tenure-track colleagues. Instead of being a minority cohort within a large faculty group, we can have an association that is fully dedicated to improving working conditions for Lecturers. 

No. A recent email communication indicated that FAUW is interested in certification of lecturers “within FAUW” and did not mention certification of FAUW members as a whole.

Dues are always set by members through a democratic vote. Control over dues rates will always remain in the hands of members. The certification process does not automatically mean that dues go up. That being said, we get what we pay for.

Individual rights are always limited by employment policies, whether negotiated or imposed by the employer. Certification does not hand all member rights over to the union, but only provides a new framework for negotiations to take place, and allows us to negotiate matters which are currently at the sole discretion of the University. One purpose of a union is to ensure you can exercise your rights within the workplace without fear. 

The rights of members are impacted in one respect: under the Labour Relations Act, individual members would have a legislative right to be fairly represented by the Association, and access to a binding complaint procedure if the Association failed to adequately represent them. This right to fair representation is clearly spelled out by the Ontario Relations Board. The certification process would provide a means to take complaints about the association before a third party.

Similar to current membership in FAUW, you are under no obligation to sign a union membership card but dues are automatically withdrawn (at rates democratically set by the membership). Even if you do not formally join the union, you would still benefit from the collective agreement negotiated by the union.

Stay up-to-date by signing up at www.lecturersconnect.com.

Some useful resources we’ve found include:

• FAQ on Unionization by Simon Fraser University Faculty Association

• Q&A on Certification by University of Guelph Faculty Association

• On Divisiveness by Maggie Levantovskaya