Work to Rule: Phase 2

Letter to Graham Lloyd CEC

Here is a copy of the letter sent by OPSEU to Graham Lloyd, CEO of the College Employer Council.

Starts 12:01am, January 3, 2022
(if no settlement or no agreement on extension of existing terms and conditions before then)

Phase 1 details can be found here.

FOCUS

Imposition of terms and conditions prevents the possibility of good labour relations.
It is a choice by the colleges and the CEC to abandon negotiations and to force faculty to work only under the conditions the colleges and CEC want.
All actions below specifically target administrators, not students.

CONTINUE TO…

Focus on needs of students and supporting their learning
Maintain contact with students and keep them informed
Maintain contact with Local and attend union activities and meetings
Follow explicit written direction from your manager (and talk to your Local about how to file a grievance if necessary).
Not perform any of the tasks from PHASE 1 [insert link here].
Take part in ongoing solidarity actions.

ACTIONS

REMEMBER:

We are in the midst of job action which entails limiting our work to the letter of the collective agreement. This is not voluntary.
The list below is struck work, and must not be undertaken by any bargaining unit member. Engaging in struck work is equivalent to crossing a picket line.
If you have any questions, contact your union local for assistance.

FOR PARTIAL-LOAD FACULTY:

According to the CEC during this round of negotiations, the total number of hours of compensated work for partial-load faculty is 1 Teaching Contact Hour (TCH) x 2.17. Therefore, during work-to-rule action, you should track and record your work and only perform the following total hours of work each week (based on the number of TCH assigned in your contract):

7 TCH= 15.19 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours
8 TCH= 17.36 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours
9 TCH= 19.53 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours
10 TCH= 21.70 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours
11 TCH= 23.87 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours
12 TCH= 26.04 total workload hours/week, including teaching hours

What this means during normal teaching periods is that any work you do beyond these maxima is volunteer work. During this period of job action, do not go above these maxima.

During your contract, record all of the time you spend on the different parts of your work, such as evaluation, preparation, meetings, student email, etc. We recommend using Toggl, a free and easy to use app that you can use from your computer or phone. When you are approaching the maxima for the week, email your supervisor and let them know.
Preparation: Time yourself and do not exceed the weekly maxima.
Evaluation/feedback: Time yourself and let your supervisor and students know when you are nearing your maxima for the week . Direct your students to your supervisor for follow-up questions and concerns.
Availability to students: Set clear boundaries and stick to them. Announce your hours of availability (both in terms of virtual meetings and email communication) to students and strictly adhere to them. Set a turn-around time on replying to student messages (e.g. 24-48 hours) and how much time will be spent on correspondence each day. Set clear expectations and communicate these to students. If asked why you have set limits on your availability, explain why very clearly.
If you do not have a signed contract by the first day of classes, email your supervisor (cc: your union Local) and ask when you will receive a signed contract.
Track all work required before your contract is in place: setting up LMS shells, prepping for courses–this is all work that should be credited. Before undertaking any work, send an email to your supervisor outlining the expected time it will take and asking for compensation for this time. Cc: your union Local on the email.
Do not answer unsolicited email from your supervisor or institution until your signed contract is in place, except to indicate you have agreed to the contract and intend to begin it on the start date.
Do not engage in unpaid meetings or other activities (e.g., orientation, recruitment fairs, etc.) prior to or during your contract. Each time you are asked to participate in an activity, reply to your supervisor with questions about whether the activity is required, and if so, whether it is paid.
Availability (re. departmental/College communications): Tell your supervisor that you will respond to institutional communications only within certain identified times on assigned days of work, and not on evenings and weekends. You are not on-call 24 hours/day, 7 days/week.
Additional meetings/ ‘workshops’: Attend no optional faculty/departmental meetings and no additional workshops or departmental/college events (unless explicitly directed to do so by your supervisor). If directed to attend, ask for payment.
Health and Safety: Document any concerns, and file complaints with the union Local Health and Safety representative where and when necessary.
Academic integrity reports/issues/work: All work related to academic integrity (beyond filing the appropriate paperwork) should be referred to your supervisor directly by email.

*If you have additional support or admin contracts along with your assigned partial-load hours, please contact your union Local for assistance. The struck work above applies only to your partial-load contract.

ALL faculty :

Do not participate in pre-semester activities: professional development, town halls, school/divisional/department meetings, recruitment, orientation, etc.
Continue recording all of the time you spend on the different parts of your work, such as evaluation, preparation, meetings, student email, etc. We recommend using Toggl, a free and easy to use app that you can use from your computer or phone.
Preparation: Time yourself and do not exceed the weekly attributed hours.
Evaluation/feedback: Time yourself and let your supervisor and students know when you are nearing your attributed hours for the week supervisor for follow-up questions and concerns. . Direct your students to your
Availability to students: Set clear boundaries and stick to them. Announce your hours of availability (both in terms of virtual meetings and email communication) to students and strictly adhere to them. Set a turn-around time on replying to student messages (e.g. 24-48 hours) and how much time will be spent on correspondence each day. Set clear expectations and communicate these to students. If asked why you have set limits on your availability, explain why very clearly.

3. After end of Fall semester and before start of Winter semester:

No unassigned college meetings
No unassigned and agreed-to professional development
No unassigned extracurricular activities
No holiday gatherings
No town halls.
Limit the information that you upload to your College LMS to your course outline and contact information. Where at all possible, host your teaching and course materials on a non-college site and send or post links to those materials to your students. (Password-protecting your materials is even better.)
Do not answer emails from college administrators after 5pm, before 9am, or on weekends.
Do not spend any additional time on committee work other than what is assigned on your SWF each week.
Do not participate in course or program updates or renewal processes not assigned on your SWF.
Stop all communication with college after the end of your SWF/contract, except for grade entry.
Stop doing any tasks that are not explicitly recorded on your SWF, including volunteer committee work, extracurriculars, informal assistance to managers, programs, special projects.
Academic integrity reports/issues/work: All work related to academic integrity (beyond filing the appropriate paperwork) should be referred to your supervisor directly by email.
Grieve any direction that contravenes the above, or goes beyond existing conditions of the Collective Agreement.
Refer any changes to workload to WMG. Request additional attributed hours for switch to online course delivery.
When you reach the limit of the time assigned for a complementary function, course preparation, or evaluation each week, inform your supervisor and stop doing the work.
No recordings or synchronous classes, unless it is YOUR decision: If you do record your classes, use the “Bargaining for Better” background in your recordings.
Do not agree to or engage in work on weekends.

Counsellors and Librarians:

Do not work beyond 35 hours per week. No overtime (except crisis situations for counselling). Do not volunteer to lead additional workshops or works.
Librarians – do not attend classes/create workshops for evening classes (or in addition to regular duties) unless specifically directed.
If there is a problem you have identified, write to your manager and ask what should be done, and by whom.

Coordinators and Student Placement Activities:

Only perform those coordinator duties that have been reduced to writing and agreed to, and only for the time provided each week. When you have reached the limit of your time, refer all questions, concerns, and work to your supervisor.
Stop assisting with scheduling and referring/recruiting part-time hires.
Do not plan for student placements/co-ops/clinicals etc unless specifically assigned as course prep.
Do not enter grades for student placements/co-ops/clinicals unless specifically assigned as a course prep.