Where are we in the négo process?

Second Wave of Demands: General Assembly (20th Feb)

A few notable points from the government’s offer — for the full, detailed annotation of the government’s offer, see here.

Earth Action Day

It was great to see so many members of the Dawson Community united for a common purpose on September 27th. The DTU Executive would like to extend a special thanks to those teachers who animated workshops on climate-related topics: Anna-Liisa Aunio (Sociology), Gina Granter (English), Fiona Hanley (Nursing), Yann Lamontagne (Mathematics), Émilie Richer (Mathematics), Brian Seivewright (Chemistry), and Wendy Thatcher (English).

Check your Seniority!

We recently sent a Memo (email dated Oct 15th) explaining how to check that your seniority has been correctly calculated in the ‘Seniority List, 2018-2019’ that the College published on 15th October.

It has been brought to our attention that some Continuing Education teachers who missed classes due to sick days have not received seniority for those classes. If you are a Continuing Education teacher and you took a sick day in 2018-2019, you should verify that you have been credited with these hours in your seniority. You should also note that short-term substitution (occurring in the first 10 days of a teacher’s absence) does not count towards seniority.

If you are having difficulties calculating your seniority or you think there has been an error, please contact the DTU as soon as possible. Teachers have 20 working days to request a modification to the Seniority List before it becomes official.

PDF Application

For your request to be considered at the next meeting of the Professional Development Fund Committee, submit it by 6th November at room 8A.11 or by email (pdfsecretary@dawsoncollege.qc.ca). We ask that applications be submitted prior to the date of the proposed activity. The Committee will be meeting to review applications the following week.

Voluntary Workload Reduction – Winter 2020

The deadline to apply for a Voluntary Workload Reduction for Winter 2020 is November 15th. As you may know, a new process for VWR was implemented this year. If you have participated in the program before, the new process may mean that you are paid differently than you had been in the past for a similar workload – this is why we strongly recommend that you come and see the DTU if you have any questions about the process.

Nego 2020 Update – General Assembly 26 November

The Bargaining Projects for both the Central and Sector tables have been adopted and will be deposited to the government on 31st October.

The “List of Issues” that was developed to guide the sectoral negotiations was also adopted at the Regroupement Cégep. Now begins the important process of prioritising the demands. The local unions are being asked to determine the priorities for each theme, with consultations being done on two or three themes at a time

We will be holding several General Assemblies in the upcoming months, the first of which will be on November 26th at 4pm in the Boardroom (5B.13). Attendance at General Assemblies is particularly important during negotiations as members play a crucial role in determining the DTU’s negotiation priorities, which are then communicated to FNEEQ. Come on out and have your voice heard!

Cont Ed Mob Committee

The Continuing Education Mobilization Committee meets monthly to provide an opportunity for Cont Ed teachers to discuss issues and share possible solutions. As we move forward in the negotiations, these meetings provide an important space for you to share your thoughts on Cont Ed issues. The next Mob Committee meeting will be held on Monday 4th Nov at 4pm in 3F.43. An email invite will go out to all Continuing Education teachers nearer the time – it would be great to see you there

If you are interested in getting involved in Cont Ed issues beyond Dawson, GRASPP is a reseau-wide network of precarious teachers, with an active Facebook page. A recent meeting was held at Ahuntsic College to discuss the FNEEQ’s list of problematics related to precarity and continuing education.

Cont. Ed. Sick Days

Following the changes to the Loi sur les normes du travail (LNT) earlier this year, Cont. Ed. teachers are now eligible to two (2) paid days of absence for medical or family reasons, per academic year. These days are paid at 1/20th of the continuing education income earned in the previous four weeks

Obviously this remuneration scheme is not ideal and forces Continuing Education teachers to choose either to take a sick day and receive a significantly reduced pay or to teach while unwell. Moreover, the amount of pay a teacher receives is variable depending on what point in the semester they are off sick. The DTU has asked the College to consider implementing a more equitable remuneration scheme, but as yet the College is not prepared to go beyond the amounts stipulated in the LNT.

If the College does not get a replacement for your missed class, they may ask you to reschedule the class at the end of semester. You have no obligation to do this as it is additional work above and beyond your contract. However, if you choose to reschedule the class, you will be paid for the additional hours (at your regular hourly Cont Ed rate) but will not receive any additional seniority.

November is Insurance Month

During the month of November, you have the opportunity to make changes to your insurance coverage. Changes will take effect on January 1st, 2020. Note that there have been some recent modifications to the insurance policy which will affect both your coverage and your premiums. You can check out more details here. If you wish to alter your plan, you should contact Allison Freund in Human Resources.

Our first General Assembly of the year will be held on 18th September at noon in 5B.13; lunch will be served at 11:30am. This is an important opportunity for you to provide your feedback on the priorities for the upcoming negotiations as well as on the “Bargaining Projects” documents prepared by the FNEEQ and CSN negotiating teams. The documents are available in English and French on the Négo 2020 section of our website.

As indicated in the Academic Calendar, the College has cancelled classes on 27th September to allow students and staff to participate in the “Strike for the Planet” event. In collaboration with the other unions and the College, we are hoping to organize workshops in the morning addressing issues related to climate change. Proposed topics include health, transport, diet, gardening, sign-making and waste, but we would love to hear your ideas! If you have a suggestion for a topic or are interested in animating a workshop, please fill in this form.

After the morning’s activities, we will depart from Dawson to join the march at Mont-Royal.

“You should know” – Cont. Ed.

• Cont’ Ed teachers continue to accumulate seniority while on parental leave, and may be entitled to a partial paid leave.
• Cont’ Ed teachers are only remunerated for course prep, grading, and contact time. They are not obligated to hold office hours or respond to emails/MIOs.
• Cont’ Ed teachers are entitled to two (2) sick days per academic year (due to provincial legislation). These days are remunerated at the minimum standard of one-twentieth of the total Cont’Ed pay earned over the previous four weeks.
• Cont’ Ed teachers at Dawson are eligible to be reimbursed for professional development activities.
• Cont’ Ed teachers are eligible for Employment Insurance (“unemployment pay”) for the weeks between semesters/contracts.

Cont Ed “Cafe”

Pub Night, 26 September

PDF Application

For your request to be considered at the next meeting of the Professional Development Fund Committee, submit it by 2nd October. You can drop your application off at 8A.11 or email it pdfsecretary@dawsoncollege.qc.ca. We ask that applications be submitted prior to the date of the proposed activity.

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