The MUALA negotiation team and the University administration have agreed to suspend negotiations until October.

We wish to emphasize that this agreement to suspend our bargaining is not the result of a breakdown of negotiations. The reason for the suspension is that the provincial government is establishing province-wide, sector-based consultations on compensation for all Ontario universities and colleges on the one side, and bodies representing unions and associations on the other.

These consultations will be taking place over the next couple of months. Until they are complete, we cannot really make any progress in negotiations. Accordingly, we have scheduled our next negotiation meetings for October 18th – 20th and 28th -29th, as well as November 1st-3rd.

The Union and the University have agreed to activate the Labour Management Committee to maintain a dialogue about labour relations matters during the bargaining hiatus.

The MUALA Negotiating Team, met with the Administration for three days of collective bargaining June 28th-30th, 2010. During this time a number of non-monetary elements were tentatively agreed upon pending final agreement to the whole by both parties and subject to ratification by our members. These elements are of a more routine variety; we have not yet discussed the more substantial issues, such as appointments and promotions, etc. The next round of negotiations is set to take place July 19th-30th. In the interim, we will be working on the outstanding non-monetary items and be preparing for the monetary items discussions. It is expected that some remaining non-monetary and some forthcoming monetary proposals will be tabled by the administration prior to the next meeting. We are pleased with the progress to date, but realize that there is still much to be done – we are learning about the importance of being patient and the necessity of paying attention to, and keeping track of, the details, large and small.