Bargaining 2025: An Audacious Step Forward

Last Monday, June 16 was an eventful day in bargaining.

• We informed the Employer that we reject its argument that it cannot bargain monetary items or wages without a mandate.
• We withdrew all of our proposals and tabled a one-year deal with a single item: a 3.6% general wage increase for all faculty.
• We made it clear that if we don’t receive a counteroffer by the end of Wednesday, we will ask an arbitrator to determine what a fair deal looks like.

Why on earth would we do that?

This is a long post about a short day—but it’s important to see the whole picture. Here goes:

1. We did this together, and it mattered.

More than 20 observers from across the College attended our bargaining session. (You can read CCFA President Lynelle’s conversation on open bargaining in her recent Nexus interview here.) The Employer did not even have enough chairs set up to seat everyone—our turnout sent a strong and timely message that faculty care deeply about reaching a fair agreement.

2. We were creative.

Our contract expired nearly three months ago. The Employer has claimed it lacks the capacity to bargain due to its botched restructuring and layoff process. We’ve struggled to secure meeting times and yesterday was our last confirmed session. 

Meanwhile, our respective packages are miles apart; meaningful progress will take months. So we offered a simple, elegant solution: a one-year wage-only rollover with a 3.6% wage increase. This number aligns with the government’s already-legislated 2.6% inflation-matching increase to minimum wage, with a modest 1% top-up to help recover ground lost to inflation in previous rounds. This proposal allows both sides to reset and return to the table in December, with ample time to discuss priorities before the new agreement expires. Everyone wins.

3. We were audacious.

The Employer told us on day one that it lacks authority to bargain any cost items—a crystal clear violation of the B.C. Labour Code. Unfortunately, this excuse has become common under the provincial government’s Coordinated Bargaining framework (See here for more info on how PSEC has suppressed free and fair bargaining in BC’s public sector). 

We called its bluff: if the government can talk money with the big public sector unions, it can talk money with us.

We deserve the same respect and fairness as workers across the province—and the country.  (For reference, recent post-secondary sector agreements in Danielle Smith’s Alberta and Doug Ford’s Ontario have provided raises between 2.5% and 4.7% per year). 

If we don’t receive a counter by Wednesday, we will proceed to binding arbitration under Clause 27.02 of our Collective Agreement.

4. We were careful.

We don’t do this lightly. Arbitration offers us our best chance to escape the mandate trap. The law is clear: arbitrators are not bound by government mandates, nor are they required to consider economic climate arguments. Public sector workers should not have to subsidize the community. It also introduces uncertainty into a bargaining system that PSEC has spent 30 years trying to suppress. Whatever happens, in future rounds the Employer now knows we have powerful leverage that we’re not afraid to use.

At the same time, we acknowledge there is risk. The Employer can submit its own (concessionary) package to arbitration, but nothing outside what has already tabled. Arbitrators also adopt the principle of conservatism: they will not impose any innovative or breakout language on an agreement, especially language that the parties would not have agreed to on their own. There’s also the chance the Employer will claim we’ve bargained in bad faith. But given the reasonableness of our proposal—and their ongoing refusal to bargain wages—we believe such a complaint would fail. In fact, we have a much stronger case of bad faith bargaining against them. 

5. Our full package is waiting.

The comprehensive package we created together—on working conditions, fair evaluations, transparency, governance, and Indigenization—remains intact. We’re ready to bring it back to the table in December. The Employer knows this package is backed by 600 united members  ready to fight for it with whatever tools we have at hand.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support, your presence, and your trust. We’re ready to win.

In sol,

Michael