The Owl Hoots: No 545

Faculty Vacation Period

The last day of availability is Friday, 14th June. The first day of availability for next semester is Monday, 19th August and classes start on Thursday, 22nd August. Any teacher who plans to be away outside of the official vacation period should request a transfer of availability from their sector dean.

Recent Gains in Continuing Education

The Union has an agreement in principle with the College regarding seniority for Continuing Education teachers who are absent for medical reasons. Previously, the College had argued that Continuing Education teachers should not gain seniority for hours they did not teach due to illness. In response to Union pressure and a potential arbitration on this issue, the College has agreed to recognise seniority for Continuing Education teachers who are absent for medical reasons. This is an important gain for our most vulnerable colleagues as it protects them from being passed on the seniority list which could have an adverse impact on their career progression.

This provision protecting seniority is even more important in light of the recent changes to the loi sur les normes du travail which guarantees Continuing Education faculty access to two days of paid absence per year for medical or family reasons. While this is an improvement, there is still a long way to go in gaining equity for our Continuing Education colleagues. The Union will be continuing to pressure the College for a real sick bank for Continuing Education teachers operated and remunerated in the same way as for regular day teachers.

Continuing Education Mobilisation Committee

The Continuing Education Mobilisation Committee has been meeting regularly this semester to share concerns and discuss strategies for bringing awareness to the precarious position of our Cont. Ed. colleagues. Some of the initiatives that have come out of these meetings, are letter-writing campaigns being organised by continuing education teachers within their departments and a proposed Course Outline statement relating to Cont. Ed. teacher availability. On the recommendation of the Mob committee, the Executive Council have asked departments to consider passing motions to include the statement in their course outlines. This is an important way to signal our solidarity with continuing education teachers and to provide them with some protection against student complaints. As negotiations progress, the committee will become even more central in guiding our mobilisation efforts. We invite all continuing education teachers to get involved. The next meeting is 15th May at 4pm; if you are interested in coming out, please rsvp so we can order enough food: secretary_tresurer@dtu.qc.ca.

Passing of Michel Giroux,
French Department