April 30, 2025 was the third day of informal mediation between NAIT and NASA with the assistance of mediator Greg Francis.
No meaningful progress on Instructor Workload
NASA was invited to hear from NAIT if/how they think the workload proposals NASA originally brought forward on August 1, 2024 should be addressed.
Later into the morning, NAIT forwarded their proposals, which include some acceptance of smaller language changes, like allowing an instructor to ask for an explanation of how their workload assignment has considered things like new courses, complexity of curriculum and so on.
Mainly, their proposals contained significant problems including:
- Rejecting any specified minimum Chair download;
- Maintaining their unjustified class size formula increase;
- A nearly 15% increase to the SIH threshold for post-diploma certificates;
- Rejecting any reduction in any SIH threshold;
- Rejecting any responsibility to assess whether workloads can be completed within the 36.25 paid work hours a week before assigning them;
- Rejecting any accountability or guidelines on giving assignment changes with any amount of notice, where NASA has proposed 90 days before a semester or intake;
- Their workload review proposal contained significant problems:
- Eliminating the existing 3rd step escalation to the VP Academic/NASA President;
- Rejecting the ability to file a grievance over the outcome of a workload review, except to grieve “the process” meaning if you won a grievance, they could argue the only fix is just to do the process all over again;
- Adding a new first step involving the Chair in the workload review process. It is unclear what power Chairs have to resolve these disputes, and this change would add more workload to Chairs who are already voicing concerns about what reorganizational changes will mean for their workload;
To put it bluntly, in the view of the bargaining committee, this was insulting.
Comments heard from NAIT around workload included remarks that instructors “feel” overworked, seemingly unable to acknowledge that for many NASA members, it’s not just a feeling, but a quantifiable problem.
The poll question from bargaining update # 22 on instructor workload management showed that a significant majority of NASA members responding are experiencing 2 or more weeks a month of having to work more than their paid 36.25 hours.
There is some belief heard from NAIT that workload issues could be addressed by things like doing fewer assessments, making the work more efficient, but potentially at the expense of effective student outcomes. Paraphrasing bargaining committee member Melissa Dobson, this seems to be a difference in priority of effective vs efficient working arrangements.
NASA Bargaining Committee response – moving to formal mediation
After receiving NAIT’s proposals that would cause more workload problems than they tried to solve, NASA felt it was time to move past informal mediation and suggested to NAIT that NASA would present the start of its Essential Services Agreement proposal while both parties were available in the afternoon. NAIT declined to have the information presented to them. A negotiated ESA is required before formal mediation can begin.
NASA had provided notice to NAIT in March to begin negotiations for an Essential Services Agreement, but since then, have focused on informal mediation. ESA negotiations are a process that takes place at the same time as collective agreement negotiations, where the parties discuss and agree upon which duties of certain positions will be required to be filled by NASA members in the event of a lockout or strike. ESA’s can be large and complicated in, say, healthcare or correctional settings, but are much simpler in post-secondary. The purpose is to look at the duties and/or positions that are essential to protect life, limb and/or rule of law, which will be very few within NASA.
The early stages of those negotiations are around “Schedule A,” which is the framework under which the union and employer agree to manage the processes and conditions for staff reporting to work and/or being on call. “Schedule B” is where the specific duties and positions will be discussed. NASA will be reaching out to staff who may be discussed as designated essential workers, starting with counsellors. If you think the duties of your job could fall under essential services, please reach out to Trevor Zimmerman to talk more.
This does not mean a lockout or strike is imminent. Completing an Essential Services Agreement allows negotiations to move from informal mediation to formal mediation. It has become clear to NASA that informal mediation was not sufficient to motivate NAIT to significantly address NASA’s proposals or provide significant novel solutions of their own to the issues raised. A recent example we can point to is the United Nurses of Alberta, who went through informal mediation in 2024, which produced an agreement that was not satisfactory to UNA members and was voted down. It was only when they went to formal mediation earlier this year that a deal was produced that UNA members would accept.
Formal mediation could begin May 27th or sooner if an ESA is reached in May. It is the hope and intent of the bargaining committee that moving towards this step will allow NAIT to more seriously address the proposals they have been provided and work towards a new collective agreement that reflects what NASA members would like to see and that you and your co-workers deserve.
Today’s survey question – co-worker conversations
After two and a half days, NAIT did not move any closer to a deal that seriously addresses workload issues, that protects against IA IIs delivering technical lessons, that doesn’t make your collective agreement worse, that has retroactive pay, or a raise that takes into account many years of inflation losses, to say nothing of the other improvements NASA members have said are important.
Your bargaining committee has been working hard, marking over the weekend and taking 3 days out of a busy exam week, only to have NAIT continue to avoid resolving the issues they’ve brought forward with your interests in mind.
They’re going to need your help. That starts with conversations with your co-workers in your programs, office banks, satellite campuses, and departments, so that they know what’s at stake and that more pressure on NAIT will be needed to reach an agreement. We know not every NASA member reads these emails, and likely your temporary and casual co-workers are not following negotiations as closely as the permanent and more senior employees.
“Have you had a conversation with the co-workers in your program about this week’s mediation?”
We’ll end with comments we received from a NASA instructor after the update earlier today:
“For myself, the subject of workload is especially important. This last fall term I was on the brink of a stress leave. My physical health took a massive hit that I’m still recovering from. On some weeks during the term, I was up till 2-3 a.m. trying to finish my marking. There was not enough time in the week to keep up… I know this is not a one-off story, a lot of us struggle at certain times of the year.”
There are good reasons for your bargaining committee to continue the work that they are doing.
Stay tuned for more.
In solidarity,
Trevor Zimmerman