FAQs

A:        ‘Job action’ is a term that refers to both a lockout (when the employer locks out employees) and a strike (when the union withdraws labour from the employer). During job action in the form of a strike, we withdraw our labour and participate in job action duties (such as participating in pickets, volunteering in the headquarters, coordinating volunteers and resources, etc.). During job action, we don’t perform employment-related duties, including but not limited to the following:

• Teaching (both on or off campus), supervising, and advising students;
• Emailing students to answer questions related to course material;
• Library work;
• Updating granting agencies regarding employment related service tasks;
• Service;
• Liaising with community partners for university-related work;
• Directing theatre or musical performances;
• Performing administrative duties.
• Not hosting conferences or speaker engagements.
  
  Peforming these duties are considered ‘strike breaking’ activities. A member found to be engaging in these activities (without an appropriate picket pass) may
  face sanctions up to, and including being no longer eligible to participate in the strike, receive strike pay for the duration of the strike, and censure from ULFA activities for up
  to one calendar year.

A:        All academic staff are required to participate in job action, unless you qualify as an exemption in the Essential Services Agreement or the ULFA Job Action Policy/Protocol. Contact the Job Action Committee for clarification at admin@ulfa.ca. If you do not participate in the job action, you may face consequences, such as the loss of job action pay, or other appropriate penalties.

A:        The majority of Members will be identified as having a job action status. There may be some Members, however, who will be considered exemptions by ULFA and should continue as regular employees of the University, complete with salary and benefits in tact. These individuals will be identified in the Essential Services Agreement and the ULFA Job Action Policy and including the following:

• Inactive Members as defined in Article 4.05 and 4.06 of the Faculty Handbook (including Senior Academic Administrators and faculty reps to the Board of Governors) and perform managerial decisions and conduct the business affairs for the University;
• Members who are on sick leave, long-term disability, political leave, maternity/parental leave, compassionate leave, or other non-voluntary leaves as approved by ULFA and the Board of Governors prior to the start of job action;
• Other cases may be agreed to between ULFA and the Board of Governors as they arise. In the event the Board of Governors does not provide exemption status for these employees ULFA will seek out the appropriate remedy for that group, and provide job action pay as per the ULFA Job Action Policy in the meantime. Those on non-voluntary leaves such as sick leave and maternity/parental leave will receive picket duty exemptions.

The University Administration has indicated that Members on study or other leaves are on lockout and will not receive their usual pay. However, Members on leave are eligible for strike pay from ULFA in returns for performing strike duties. For Members that are unable to picket in-person, please complete the JAC Accommodations Request Form, in order to request alternate duties to receive picket pay.

A:        You are not considered to be on strike while you’re on leave and you should continue to be paid by the University during that time. Once you are scheduled to return to work, however, your status will change to that of a locked-out or striking employee. You will be expected to cease all your duties as an employee and participate in the job action. You will also receive job action pay upon returning from leave. If you are removed from the University payroll prior to the scheduled start of your leave, you will qualify for job action pay, and depending on the nature of the leave may qualify for exemptions from picket duties.

A:        During job action, ULFA Members will withhold teaching, administrative, and service duties. We are not striking against research and Members whose research activities have time constraints or laboratory responsibilities will be provided with passes to cross the picket line in order to maintain the viability of laboratories, care of animals, or carry out other duties necessary to prevent the loss of data and assure the resumption of normal research activities after job action. Access to campus facilities is contingent upon approval from the U of L administration.

A:        ULFA is committed to ensuring life-threatening emergencies are dealt with in a timely and effective manner and without jeopardizing the job action principles. An agreed upon Essential Services Agreement (ESA) between ULFA and the Board of Governors provides for how emergencies that threaten public safety will be performed. Please contact the proper authorities for the nature of the emergency. The ESA provides for this sharing of emergency incidents to ULFA.

A:        If you have external commitments to granting agencies, funders, and partners that are not directly university-related work that’s assigned by the Dean, you may continue this work. Keep in mind, though, that minimizing your external commitments contributes to the success of the job action. For this reason, the Association recommends withdrawing as much of your service contributions as possible.

You are expected to withdraw from all your teaching-related duties, including supervising students in alternate modes of study. This includes teaching duties provided through electronic and in-person platforms. You may communicate with students for the purpose of updating them about job action. ULFA will also have updated information on its website, social media and at our headquarters.

A:        For the duration of the job action, you are expected to withhold your labour entirely from university-related work. If you think there is essential or critical work that you need to perform, then contact the ULFA staff for permission at admin@ulfa.ca. Without permission from the ULFA staff, you may risk being identified as a strike-breaker and facing penalties (such as losing job action pay, or the ability to participate with ULFA). Outdated ULFA posts had other unspecified penalties not contained within any Job Action Policy.

A:        No. While ULFA has taken a stance to not strike against research, the employer has indicated they will lockout ULFA staff during any job action. During a lockout, the employer will not permit you to enter the premises.
Regardless, ULFA Members will require an ULFA picket pass to cross the picket line onto the employer’s premises. You may face consequences as a result of crossing the picket line. You are strongly encouraged to remove any critical items from your office and back up your computer files on an external device prior to the start of any job action.

A:        If you are identified as an exempted Member, you may participate in job action in a number of ways:

• You can support the picket line by walking in solidarity with picketers prior to and after crossing the picket line for your regular duties;
• You can resign your position as an exempted Member for the duration of the job action and become a Member on lockout or strike. Contact the Job Action Committee for any assistance.

In Canada, employers are required by law to provide income tax documents to employees no later than the last day of February following the calendar year that the information return applies to. While members may not be able to access these documents on the Bridge, the forms should be available by logging into the Canada Revenue Agency portal (https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/e-services/cra-login-services.html).

ULFA has made a clear mandate to not strike against research. Thus, Members are welcome to continue their research activities remotely, including writing and submission of grant applications. Although, as a result of the lockout of ULFA staff, it is not clear whether the University Office of Research and Innovation Services (ORIS) will continue to processes and submit grant applications for ULFA Members. This decision resides solely with the University Board of Governors and ULFA will continue to petition for our Members to access these crucial resources.