A Public Letter to StFX University and the StFX AUT

Today the Students' Union sent the following letter to Ramsay Duff, Vice President of Finance and Operations at StFX, and Peter McInnis, President of the StFX AUT, in advance of their concilliated negotiaions over the next two days.

Dear Ramsay/Peter,

As you enter conciliated negotiations over the next two days, I want to impress upon both sides the personal impact that the outcome of these discussions will have on our members, the student body. The student body has now been waiting on a resolution for 7 months, a length of time that has manifested uncertainty surrounding degree status, convocation, and the academic term in general.

For students completing their second semester of post-secondary education through to honours students making sacrifices to complete a thesis, this uncertainty is an intolerable stressor that has unwarranted personal impacts on our members.

On behalf of these members, I implore you to stay at the table and come to a mutually beneficial resolution. It is imperative that all bargaining is in good faith, and that communication will not break down until a deal is reached. Students are the lifeblood of this institution and work stoppage is not a solution.

Sincerely,

Nick Head-Petersen

President, StFX Students' Union

A Note on the Personal Impacts of a Potential Strike

We continue to receive many questions surrounding the personal impacts of a disruption to classes as the result of a possible strike. We are working to provide answers to these questions and hope to have an FAQ available in the coming days. Many of the questions deal directly with services provided to students by the university (eg. residence, tuition, academic calendar) and therefore we have requested information on these topics from the respective departments. We will be sure to post this information as it becomes available.  We encourage you to continue sending us your questions and concerns, as we as students relate with the inquires we have been receiving and are dedicated to providing answers. The Students’ Union continues to advocate on behalf of students for both parties to come to a resolution this week in order to avoid a disruption to classes. 

Update on StFX/AUT Negotiations

We would like to take this time to update you on the current status of the collective bargaining negotiations between the StFX Association of University Teachers (AUT) and StFX University.

This is the second week of the two-week “cooling off” period that was initiated on January 11, 2013. During this period neither the Administration nor the Faculty can take respective job action measures. The administration has committed to not locking out the faculty.

Conciliated negotiations are scheduled between both parties January 23 and January 24.  The Students’ Union has been, and will continue to be this week, very clear with both sides that we are pro-solution and that it is our hope a resolution will be reached this week at the table.

Today, the Students’ Union received notice that “The Executive Committee of the StFXAUT has endorsed a motion that a formal strike notice be filed with the Conciliation & Labour Tribunals Division, Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education on Friday, 25 January 2013.“  This means, “Pending the announcement of a tentative deal the StFXAUT will undertake legal strike action on Monday, 28 January 2013.” Please find below the full statement from the StFXAUT Executive Committee.

The Students’ Union wants to reassure all students that, in the event of a strike, the Students’ Union will provide both academic and social support for students throughout. Please continue to send any questions, concerns, or feedback to the Students’ Union Executive or your representative councilors. More communications will follow in the coming days. Please continue to check theu.ca for the most up-to-date information regarding the negotiations.

 Thank You,

Nick and Rachel

President and Vice-President of the Students’ Union

(su_pres@stfx.ca and su-vp@stfx.ca)

 21 January 2013

The Executive Committee of the StFXAUT has endorsed a motion that a formal strike notice be filed with the Conciliation & Labour Tribunals Division, Nova Scotia Department of Labour and Advanced Education on Friday, 25 January 2013.

Commencement of a strike will be undertaken in the event our Negotiating Team reports a tentative settlement is not forthcoming following the conciliation dates of 23/24 January. Now into the eighth month of negotiations with university administrators, we maintain our determination to achieve a fair and equitable collective agreement for all our members. The StFXAUT, however, may have no practical option but to engage in strike activity to support our efforts at the table.

Pending the announcement of a tentative deal the StFXAUT will undertake legal strike action on Monday, 28 January 2013.

StFXAUT Executive Committee

what does it mean to be neutral?

In many of our posts regarding the Collective Bargaining Agreement discussions we have stated that the Students' Union is neutral during this process. We wanted to take this opportunity to clarify what this means.

From the start of the Collective Bargaining Agreement discussions between the StFX administration and StFX AUT, which began several months ago, the Students’ Union has committed to keeping the best interest of students in the forefront of these negotiations. This would be having both parties continue to negotiate so that there is no disruption to classes. We are not going to advocate for the University or the AUT singularly, but meet with both parties equally to address the needs of students.

We feel that it is important to maintain our ‘neutrality’ on this issue because these groups are integral to our experience as students at this institution and it is essential that the Students’ Union continue to have a strong working relationship with both parties.

Neutrality does not mean inaction. The Students’ Union has, and continues to engage with both parties throughout this process. We have been meeting regularly with both University Administration and representatives from the AUT and have provided information in the form of public briefings following those meetings. We are committed to continuing this practice throughout the negotiation process. 

Both StFX and the StFX AUT continue to provide updates on their websites. Both of these addresses are provided below:

• StFX: sites.stfx.ca/hr/negotiation_update_aut
• StFX AUT: http://stfxaut.ca/?c

Please do not hesitate to email us with any concerns at any time.

Nick (su_pres@stfx.ca) and Rachel (su_vp@stfx.ca)

New Year. New Inn.

Happy new year everyone! I hope you all had a great break and are excited to be back for second semester! This blog post is pretty much all about The Inn, I'll post next week with the rest of my updates from the Communications office.

I am SO EXCITED for the changes we're rolling out for The Inn this semester.. it's a New Year so we've got a #NewInn!

For the purpose of this post, I've decided to make my personal Top 5 for the changes to The Inn (although technically they are all equally SO GREAT):

1) DRAFT PRICES: We've slashed the prices on domestic beer and now those taste-y 60oz pitchers of Keith's and Bud Light are much more student friendly! On Wing Nights pitchers are $13 from 10-11pm and $14 from 11pm to close!!

2) FOOD SERVICE IS BACK: speaks for itself, nom nom nom buffalo chicken bacon wrap. Come for dinner Wed-Fri, 5pm-8pm!

3) DCB: related to #2 but we now accept DCB for food purchases! DCB always feels like free money, so it's basically like eating free food, right?

4) warmINN up prices: from 10pm-11pm on Wednesdays and Fridays well shots and 12oz draft are only $2.50!!

5) GIVEAWAYS: this week, every tenth person in the bar between 5pm and 8pm receives free wings on Wednesday, free nachos on Thursday and free onion rings on Friday!! We also have a special Spring Break Trip giveaway that we'll be announcing in the next few days with our sponsorship partners CD Tours!

Check out the new promo video for more info on these deals!!

And this week is PACKED with great events:

TONIGHT: First Wing Night Back!
Friday: Two Year's Eve
Saturday: Sleeveless feat. the great DJ HRBRT 

It is all so exciting! Also, one quick note, we are hiring a second X-Army Coordinator for the Winter Term, if you are interested in getting involved on the Marketing Team with The U definitely check out this opportunity - you can find the application here! Again, I'll be back next week with more updates from the Comm office, but for now, enjoy Frost Week and I'll see you all at The Inn!

Kaleigh

VP Finance Update

Hi All,

Since the last time I posted a few things have happened: some 1000 students have received X-Rings, a few first semester honorarium cheques were signed and the NHL is back on the ice..... odds makers have stated that the Leafs and Canadiens have a 30/1 shot at winning Lord Stanley.

Nick and I attended the annual LobbyCon Conference in Ottawa where we collectively met with 16 MPs/Senators and contended  for issues that matter to students. We were joined by fellow east-coasters from SMU, AU, and DAL. The three major issues that were found to receive the most traction from Government officials were:

1) Increasing or eliminating the weekly in-study income exemption for students participating in the Canada Student Loan Program. Currently, students are asked to estimate their expected in-study income when applying for Financial Assistance - of which only $100 weekly can be exempted. Since 60% of students are working at least 18 hours a week, a student could technically have a $2,880 deduction from their student loan over a 36 week course. Essentially we were arguing that students should be encouraged to participate in the economy and continue to build up their educational skill sets - an argument that the current Government fully understood and supported.

2) Eliminating or increasing the minimum fair value of a vehicle that an individual can have for a Canada Students Loan Assessment. Currently, the value of of a vehicle counts against the loan awarded to a student unless the vehicle has a FMV of $5,000 or less. This $5,000 figure was introduced in 2001, and has not been reassessed since - interestingly enough the average price of a used car in Canada is $11,400 and 46% of students rely on a vehicle to get to school. Although many governmental officials were not completely interested in eliminating the vehicular assessment from the Canada Students Loan Program - it is likely that the $5,000 mark will be adjusted either by inflation or average used price.

3) The tertiary position we were lobbying for was Open Access. Currently, researchers that are funded by Federal taxpayers (all of us) are able to turn around and charge institutions, including students, fees to access the information. We firmly believe that this is unjust and unfair for students to be paying for the information twice! Open Access has been introduced in the UK and the EU - with great success. Students there are able to access publicly funded educational documents for free and are able to enhance their knowledge. Since the future economy is likely to be primarily knowledge based, it is imperative that students have access to this information which should improve the innovativeness of Canadians. CASA understands and believes that the authors should maintain copyright, but if they are publicly funded it should be available for all.

For those interested in the specific details of our asks: http://www.casa-acae.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Public-Pre-Budget2012EN.pdf

January Update

I am beginning my pre-budget consultations with the executives in order to set up the framework for the next Students' Union Budget. Once that is done, I plan on meeting with the various sub-execs and stakeholders to fine tune it. My plan is for a budget that is fair and realistic.

As a member of the University Budget Committee, we are looking at measures to improve enrolment (increase tuition/fee revenue) and implement cost saving efficiencies throughout campus. For those interested, the accounting department of the University has provided an updated budget forecast for 2013 on their website. Also on the website are the Public Sector Compensation Disclosure Requirements for those earning >100K and the University Financial Statements. The forecast exhibits a University is facing a deficit position as a result of Provincial Government funding cuts and a decline in student enrolment year over year.

http://sites.stfx.ca/financial_services/finance/University_Financials

If anyone has any questions please feel free to send me an email.

Cheers,

Patrick

Letter from the President and Vice President

Dear Members of the StFX Students’ Union,

As many of you have heard over the past two days, conciliated negotiations between StFX and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) broke off late Saturday night. The conciliator, Mr. John Greer, will now file his “no board report”. A fourteen-day period will begin upon the submission of the conciliator’s report, which is expected by the end of this week. During this period neither a strike nor employer-initiated job action can occur.

Following this period, the AUT can take a strike vote or the Administration can lockout the faculty. There is a 48 hours notice that must be given before either takes place.

The AUT has stated that they are committed to reaching a deal at the table. The Administration has publicly committed to not locking-out the faculty.

The Students’ Union will be working this week to prepare some options to address your academic and social needs should a disruption to classes occur. We are still hopeful that the two sides will get back to the table and work out a deal prior to the 14 days expiring.

The Students’ Union remains neutral in this process and will ensure students are provided with up-to-date information. For updates from both parties, we encourage you to visit the following links: StFX Update | AUT Update. If you have any further questions or concerns regarding the current situation please feel free to contact your Students’ Union.

Thank you,

Nick Head-Petersen and Rachel Mitchell

StFX Students’ Union President (su_pres@stfx.ca)

StFX Students’ Union Vice President (su_vp@stfx.ca)