The Retirees' Newsletter

The Retirees's Association ( Faculty, Librarian, Administrator), University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont. Canada

Vol VIII, No. 4, October 1998


Faculty Association Contract News

Contract Negotiations in 1998 Between The University and the Faculty Association

SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO THE COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT

Faculty Association and the Board of Governors of the University have ratified a three year contract that would expire June 30, 2001. We will summarize for you the chief features of the monetary and non-monetary packages.

The monetary package
Salary increases

The major components which affect the base salaries of full-time faculty, librarians and Ancillary Academic Staff are these:

The minima for the ranks increase by 2.5% on July 1, 1998, July 1,1999 and July 1 2000 (for a total increase of 7.5% over the life of the contract). Scale increases and PTR increases are added to salary after any increase in salary needed to bring one to the floor of their rank.

Effective July 1 in each of 1998, 1999, and 2000, there will be a scale increase 1.5% (for a total increase over the life of the contract of 4.5%). This is reflected in the contract language by artificially defining cost of living (CPIF) as 1.5% for each of the three contract years, so as to preserve the principle of COLA in the Agreement. The first scale increase is retroactive to July 1, 1998.

Effective July 1 in each of each year faculty, librarians and AAS's will receive PTR increases that average 1.0% of salary in each of the three years. For 1998 PTR is $795, for 1999 it is $810 and for 2000 it is $830.

Two further items apply to faculty and librarians only:

One application of the Windsor Salary Standard on June 30, 2001.

A small anomalies fund of $70,000, with anomalies awards to be effective June 30, 2001. This is larger than the anomalies fund in the last contract (which was $50,000), and is not restricted gender based anomalies.

There are changes to the course rates and hourly rates for Sessional Instructors. The new course rates for full semester courses increase by about 2.5% per year and are as follows:

Effective July 1, 1998 - $3,690
Effective July 1, 1999 - $3,782
Effective July 1, 2000 - $3,877

The rate for 1998/99 is retroactive to July 1, 1998. Former Level III Sessional Lectures will receive $3,700 per course for 1998/99; thereafter they will receive the standard Sessional Instructor Course Rate.

Hourly rates for Sessional Instructors are all increased by approximately 2.5%.

The rate for overload courses has been increased to $3,300.

There are increases in the responsibility stipends for department heads and directors of schools (see 31:04).

Ranges for Lecturers and Assistant Professors hired after January 1, 1999

The Association strongly resisted Administration proposal to impose caps or maxima on salaries for each of the four ranks for faculty and professional librarians. In order to achieve a more favorable financial settlement, we have agreed to accept the idea that the two lower ranks for faculty and librarians are not "career" ranks and that individuals are expected to achieve promotion to the next higher rank within five years of appointment to such ranks. After five years at such a rank, an individual can receive a further salary increase only if he or she is below the "upper limit" for his or her rank. See clause A.1.(a) of the proposed Agreement for details. Note that the upper limits for these ranks increase each year by the amount of the scale increase.

Most importantly, note that these provisions do not apply to any current member of the bargaining unit.

Pension contribution holiday

Because of the surplus in the minimum guarantee portion of the pension plan, we were able to extend the practice of not deducting pension plan contributions from your salary. Payments into your money purchase pension account will be made on your behalf out of the surplus in the minimum guarantee fund. An amount of $7,360,000 has been set aside for this purpose. That should permit the suspension of contributions to continue for about three and a half years continuing for about 6 months after the expiry of the proposed Agreement.

For those participating in the pension plan, the suspension avoids a deduction of about 5.4% from gross salary. However, it is not a permanent change in salary and will disappear once the $7,360.000 has been used up.

Pension Plan Changes

There are three noteworthy changes in matters affecting pensions.

We have improved the minimum guarantee formula slightly from a 1.35/2.0 guarantee to a 1.45/2.0 guarantee. Even though this may trigger Past Service Pension Adjustments, we believe this a prudent measure designed to lessen the impact on your retirement income of possible future changes in the Canada Pension Plan.

We have provided a fund to increase the Minimum Guarantee Benefit of all existing retirees to the level they would have received had they been given full CPI benefits since their pension commencement. According to the information we have obtained from competent sources, this is the maximum increase in current benefits for existing retirees that is permitted under law.

There is no retroactive payment associated with this increase, and it does not affect future indexing of the Minimum Guarantee Benefit.

The Early Retirement Program

We propose to continue the Early Retirement Program, with only slight variation from the Plan in the last Agreement (chiefly an increase in the rates for the Retirement Allowance and new provisions for the disbursement of unexpended portions of the Retirement Allowance Fund).

The Early Retirement Program consists of two parts: a VER Plan and a Retirement allowance. The purpose of the program is not only to generate savings for the University but also to facilitate faculty renewal.


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