U of M, faculty go head-to-head before labour board

Hearings began Tuesday at the Manitoba Labour Board to determine whether the University of Manitoba engaged in unfair labour practices last fall during contract negotiations with faculty.

The hearings stem from acomplaint made bythe University of Manitoba Faculty Associationlast November, during the height of the three-week strike at the University of Manitoba.The complaint alleged administrationfailed to disclose communications from the provincial government asking the universityto freeze facultysalaries.

Most of the Tuesday's hearingwas occupied by sworn testimony from UMFA's president, Mark Hudson. Greg Juliano, the U of M's associate vice-president of human resources, testifiedin the last hour of the hearing.

Hudson was grilled by lawyers representing the university on whether salary increases were top priority for UMFA or if the union was more concerned with how the university was governed.

Hudson acknowledged that the Sept. 13 proposal by the universitythat included a one per cent increase and three years of two per cent increases was unacceptable to the faculty association.

In his brief testimony, Juliano saidthat the Pallister government wasn't alone in mandating wage freezes. The former NDP government did the same thing in 2011 and 2012; faculty did not receive a raise in those years.

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Hearings continue Wednesday

Hearings will continue on Wednesday, whenJuliano is expected to bequestioned by lawyers representing UMFA in regards to the letter he receivedfrom Gerry Irving, the province's secretary ofpublic-sector compensation.

The letter allegedly suggeststhe university withdraw its Sept. 13 four-year salary proposal and replace it with a salary freeze for one year.

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It further states thatUMFA'scollective bargaining team was not made aware of the communication between the U of M and Irving until Oct. 27.

"The failureof the mediation process and the resulting strike were either caused or materially contributed to by the universitywithdrawing its salary offer, which ... is an act of bargaining in bad faith contrary to the university's obligations under the Labour Relations Act of Manitoba," the complaint reads.

The 21-day strike ended on Nov. 21 whenUMFAwhich represents 1,200 professors, instructors and librarians signed a one-year agreement which includeda wage freeze.

In March, the Progressive Conservatives introduced a bill which would takewages off the bargaining table for the public sector and health-care workers. Once the bill is passed, any new contract would be mandated to include a two-year wage freeze, followed by 0.75 per cent in the third year, and one per cent in the fourth.

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If the board rules in UMFA's favour, it couldorderthe university to compensate each of the faculty members who lost wages and benefits during the strike. It is also askthe board to orderthe university to restore the offer made in the Sept. 13 proposal and immediately restart the collective bargaining process.

More hearings are scheduled for June and October.