Sessional lecturers' contract ratified
The University of Saskatchewan Board of Governors and the union representing sessional lecturers have ratified a new four-year collective agreement that includes salary increases, an increase to health spending accounts, a fully insured critical illness plan and the introduction of regular teaching reviews.
By Colleen MacPhersonThe agreement covers the period Sept. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2014.
Salary adjustments include a four per cent increase to the total stipend for the period Sept. 1, 2010 to Aug. 31, 2011, which will be paid retroactively to CUPE 3287 members actively employed during that period. Subsequent salary adjustments include four per cent increases in 2011 and 2012, and a 3.5 per cent increase in 2013. In 2011, there will be an additional four per cent total stipend increase to all CUPE 3287 members actively employed. This change was negotiated as a substitution for a retirement savings contribution provision that only a specific group was eligible to receive.
The agreement specifies an increase of $100 per year, to $600, for health spending accounts (HSA) effective Sept. 1 this year with the eligibility criteria for the HSA lowered to nine credit units of teaching per year from 12. There will also be an expansion of the HSA, to be renamed flexible spending program, to include the option to pay for taxable health and wellness expenses starting Sept. 1, 2012.
The collective agreement introduces regular reviews for lecturers for the purpose of providing feedback on instruction and planning future professional development. The reviews will be done during an employee's first nine credit units of teaching, then once every two years providing they have taught more than 15 credit units.
There is also provision for a joint committee to be established to continue discussion of the right of first refusal and what adjustments will be beneficial to both parties.