Professors demand more input, reduced workload, better wages at French-language university

Winnipeg Free Press

21 hours ago

Professors are calling on Manitoba's only French-language university to take their input on campus issues more seriously, and put that pledge in writing.
Université de Saint-Boniface's faculty association has three main demands as it enters non-binding mediation with senior administration this week: wages that match those at Winnipeg's other two public universities and the francophone school division that employs kindergarten-to-Grade 12 teachers; reduced teaching loads, from 18 to 15 credits per year; and a renewed commitment to collegial operations.
'The way the university is being run right now is very much like a company,' said Phi-Vân Nguyen, a spokeswoman for l'Association des professeurs et professionnels de l'USB.
'We are calling on the advice of consultants and firms, etc., but in fact, the people who should be the most involved in decision-making should be those involved in the university's mission, which is teaching and research excellence.'
The associate professor of history said morale is low because academics feel their opinions are being ignored when it comes to curriculum updates, hiring and related matters.
The union wants senior administration to commit to fostering collegiality, be it explicitly written in a preamble in the new collective agreement or otherwise, she said.
Faculty association president Patrick Noël said campuses across Canada are grappling with a steady deterioration in collegiality between scholars and administrators over the last 30 years.
The shift is linked to shrinking percentages of government funding as total revenue and schools needing to find alternate sources of income, said Noël, who is also the president of the Manitoba Organization of Faculty Associations.
In the leadup to finalizing their last contract, which expired on July 31, 2024, the parties secured a record for the longest round of bargaining — 995 days — in the post-secondary education sector in Canada.
Both Nguyen and Noël said that title is nothing to celebrate. It's why the membership has handed its union a strict timeline to complete a new contract, they said.
Nine in 10 members cast ballots in a May 20 strike vote. The union received an overwhelming mandate to take job action, with 95 per cent of voters in favour.
The union, which represents about 65 full-time academics and 40 part-timers, has set Sept. 12 as its bargaining deadline.
If a deal isn't reached before then, francophone professors could set up a picket line on Sept. 15, one day prior to the university's deadline to withdraw from a course with no penalty.
'USB's goal is to reach fair agreements while ensuring the financial sustainability of its programs and services, which are essential to student success,' university spokesman Réal Durand said in a statement.
Senior administration is in separate negotiations with university professors, as well as college instructors who belong to l'Association des professeurs d'études collégiales.
The faculty association and employer group are scheduled to return to the table with a mediator Thursday. Contract talks are slated to resume with the latter association on Monday.
'USB hopes to conclude new collective agreements as soon as possible,' Durand said.
He declined to provide further comment, citing the Manitoba Labour Relations Act and 'out of respect for the ongoing collective bargaining process.'
Noël said there remains a 'big gulf' between the parties with back-to-school season fast-approaching.
Francophone professor salaries were on par with their teacher counterparts at the University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg and the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine until the summer of 2016, he noted.
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Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter
Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.
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