ASPA (Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association)
Welcome to the online home of ASPA, located at the University of Saskatchewan
ASPA Bargaining Update
Your ASPA bargaining team met with the employer on November 21 and 22, 2019. This is the second meeting we have had to date and we will be meeting with the employer again on December 19 and 20, 2019. We are still in the early stages of bargaining but it is clear after the first two meetings that we have a lot of work ahead of us before reaching a new collective agreement.
Continue reading “Bargaining Update”Dear ASPA Members,
I have several updates for you since my last message. I am happy to report that we have scheduled several days to meet with the employer’s bargaining team before the spring break. In fact, our team met for the first time with the employer’s team on October 31st.
Continue reading “Bargaining Update”Hello ASPA Members,
As the days get shorter and the nights get cooler we can look forward to seeing a new crop of students arrive. I hope you have had a chance to take a break from your work to enjoy some rest and relaxation.
As the Co-lead, with Hugh Wagner, for your bargaining team, my plan is to update you monthly on the status of bargaining, even if there is nothing to report. At the very least you will know that nothing is happening and better yet, you will have a monthly update. Continue reading “Bargaining Update”
ASPA’s Bargaining team met on June 11 for a third day-long meeting. The team made 
great progress in reviewing the collective agreement and I am happy to report that we have combed through the entire agreement. In our assessment, we discussed some of the challenges that we have had with interpreting the collective agreement over the last few years to see if we can come up with any means of addressing these points. Continue reading “Bargaining Update”
Have you ever wondered how a Collective Agreement gets negotiated and would you like to learn more or perhaps be a member of the ASPA Bargaining team?
ASPA is looking for a few good people. No previous experience is required. We are looking for ASPA members with diverse strengths and from multiple areas of campus. Continue reading “Interested in Bargaining?”
The University’s Board of Governors voted to ratify the ASPA Collective Agreement at their March Board meeting. For more information attend the ASPA AGM on April 28, 2016 at 2:30 pm in 241 Arts or go to the FAQ’s page. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at aspa@aspasask.ca or 306-966-2471.
Executive and Bargaining Team
ASPA has ratified the tentative agreement with an overwhelming support of 93% of members who voted. The eVote was very successful with the largest percentage of our members voting in the history of ASPA at 80%.
The ASPA Bargaining Team and Executive want to thank you for your support through this process. We will be doing a follow up survey to seek input from you about what worked and what didn’t so that we can prepare for the future.
ASPA Bargaining Team and Executive
On Feb 4, 2016 ASPA and the University of Saskatchewan reached a tentative agreement. The ASPA bargaining team is recommending ratification of the agreement.
ASPA BARGAINING TIMELINE
July 28th and 29th – Mediation
August 4th – Mediation
September 23rd and 24th – Mediation
September 24th – The employer provided ASPA with an offer. The offer was noted as being “without prejudice and without precedent”. ASPA began to counter the employer’s offer but were unable to articulate it completely as the employer interrupted and advised us without prior written notice that the offer on the table was now a final offer from the University. Mediation had broken off and the parties began their fourteen (14) day cooling off period.
October 1st – The employer provided ASPA with a draft of the collective agreement on Thursday at 4:27pm and we were advised that this was going to be placed on their website early the following week. The draft contained items that had not been agreed to or discussed previously. ASPA requested that the University refrain from posting the draft agreement until it could be reviewed by ASPA. ASPA was advised that they were posting it anyway.
October 5th – October 9th – ASPA held information sessions with its members.
October 9th – ASPA received a letter from the University’s chief negotiator Greg Trew. The letter advised ASPA that the employer was expecting them to take the offer to the membership for a vote. There is no obligation for ASPA to do so. The letter also offered to meet with only the ASPA President, Dawn Giesbrecht as a one on one dialogue.
October 20th – ASPA responded to the employer, advising them that we were consulting with our members and would provide them with a response in due course.
October 23rd – ASPA posted the power point presentation on the ASPA website
October 26th – ASPA held a rally in the bowl, welcoming President Stoicheff to his new role and asking for him to be a catalyst for positive change on campus. We also delivered a letter to the President asking him to have his bargaining team come back to the table so that we may have the rest of the counter proposal heard by the employer. (View letter) At the end of the day, ASPA received a faxed letter from the employer’s Chief Negotiator, Greg Trew suggesting that ASPA had engaged in an unfair labour practice and that we were bargaining in bad faith because we had communicated a monetary bargaining position with our members prior to providing this information to the employer. ASPA had begun to share this offer with the employer back on September 24th, but was unable to complete the full counter-proposal because the University decided to walk away from the table during our presentation. ASPA has not committed an unfair labour practice.
October 28th, – ASPA received a letter from President Stoicheff (View Letter). ASPA responded to Mr. Trew and offered to have the parties meet so that negotiations could continue. We offered a number of dates in which we were available to meet with the University. ASPA wanted to have the chance to actually be heard by the employer’s bargaining team and were hopeful that discussions could continue. The employer however was not interested in bringing together the full bargaining teams again contrary to statements that seem to indicate they were willing. (View Article)
October 29 –November 7– ASPA conducted a survey of its members.
November 18th – ASPA provided a letter to Mr. Trew advising him that we had done a survey of our members and that 71% of our members had rejected the employer’s proposal and therefore we were not taking the employer’s proposal to a formal vote. ASPA once again offered to meet with the University bargaining team and if the University was still unwilling to meet with the full team then ASPA’s Co -Chief Negotiators would be prepared to meet with a single representative of the University.
November 19th – The Chief Negotiator for the University provided ASPA with a letter saying that they have no need to meet with the bargaining committee. He further suggested that bargaining had concluded but offered to “find a basis for further discussion” as a one-on-one with the Chief Negotiator for ASPA. Dates were provided.
December 10th – Ken Glover and Jim Coller (ASPA Co-Chief Negotiators) met with Greg Trew the Chief Negotiator for the University. The parties discussed ways to move forward. The parties will review the results of the conversation and will provide feedback in January.
ASPA (Administrative and Supervisory Personnel Association) 