The stewards of Local 352 wanted to let you know we reached out to our college president, Maureen Adamson, in hopes she would engage with us and to ask her to put pressure on the College Employer Council to return to bargaining. Imposing terms & conditions is such a huge blow to labour relations, which have been good at Fleming over the years. Faculty want to know if the imposed Terms and Conditions, and CEC’s tactics over the past few months are supported by Maureen, the Board of Governors and managers at Fleming.
It appears Maureen is not at the college this week as we received a one-line response from a senior leader indicating our letter had been received. It is our hope that early in the new year, Maureen will personally respond our letter.
Letter from the union:
Dear Maureen:
Faculty at Fleming College have heard no publicly expressed concerns or objections from you, the Board of Governors, or managers regarding the imposition of terms and conditions; therefore, it would appear the CEC’s conditions and approach to bargaining generally represents the views of you and your managers.
If this is not the case, then the current bargaining structure is dysfunctional, and I urge managers at all levels, especially you Maureen, our President, to voice your concerns and ask the CEC to review its position and manner of bargaining.
The CEC isn’t really bargaining, it is using a position of power to unilaterally force one party’s views onto another. It does not appear that this approach aligns with Fleming’s values that claim we have an institutional culture that values, supports, and promotes belonging, equity, human rights, respect, and accountability among faculty, staff, and students.
The CEC can legally do what it’s doing; however, the CEC does not demonstrate it is in touch with the very real ongoing issues colleges are contending with; issues that are historical, current, and most certainly will impact our future. We believe CEC’s decision does not reflect a realistic understanding of our current situation. At Fleming College we are not only dealing with the pandemic, we are facing other challenges as you have indicated. Dealing effectively with these challenges will require good will, collaboration, mutual respect, and effective communication.
Maureen, this isn’t the time for such one-sided, autocratic, morale-eroding conduct. But that’s what the CEC have been doing for as long as I have been at the college. Good labour relations is impeded by the tactics of the College Employer Council. The faculty and counsellors at Fleming College are asking you to direct the CEC to resume negotiations or to send the outstanding proposals to binding interest arbitration so we can all focus on matters that make Fleming strong and result in a clear commitment to quality education.
Respectfully submitted and I would very much appreciate the courtesy of a response.
Liz
President Local 352
Fleming Faculty Union 