[UW shield]

Daily Bulletin

University of Waterloo -- Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Yesterday's Bulletin | Previous days | UWevents | UWinfo home page

Wednesday, April 24, 1996

Mail ballot developments

A memo from Robin Banks, associate provost (academic affairs), to all faculty indicates there are still inquiries regarding the possibility of a mail-in ballot on the certification vote held April 17 and 18 on campus. Faculty members on sabbatical and business have been out of luck up to now. Here is some of that text: "On April 9th, a week prior to the on-campus vote, I asked the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) about the possibility of a mail-in ballot. They informed me that, although mail-in ballots were unusual, they were willing to consider our request, and that the chance of approval would be considerably greater if the request were also supported by FAUW.

Immediately I telephoned Ian MacDonald, President of FAUW, to ask whether FAUW would be willing to support the University's request for a mail-in ballot. Several hours later, Proessor Macdonald called back to say that FAUW would not support the request.

Given the lack of support from FAUW, and the fact that the OLRB is accustomed to dealing with industrial workplaces where such circumstances are unlikely to arise, it is not surprising that the OLRB decided against having a mail-in ballot.

In April 15th, Professor Macdonald made the following statement in the FAUW Certification Bulletin #9: 'The OLRB rejected the Administration's request without asking for a submission from the Faculty Association.'

Although this statement may be technically correct, the fact of the matter is that FAUW was consulted at the suggestion of the OLRB and declined to support a mail-in ballot.

We consider this to be an important matter of fairness. For some groups in the bargaining unit proposed by FAUW, all members were on campus and voted on April 17th or 18th. However, a significant number of the regular faculty were disenfranchised because they were absent on sabbatical leaves or other pre-arranged university business.

Since ballots will not be counted for several weeks, there is still time to conduct a mail-in ballot, and the University will press the OLRB on this matter. We hope that FAUW will reconsider its position and lend its support to our request.

If you wanted to vote but could not do so because you were away from campus on April 17 and 18 on university business please fill in the reverse side of this sheet and return it to me by the end of the week."

More talk about the budget

The senate finance committee meets this afternoon -- Needles Hall room 3001, at 1:30 p.m. -- and here's what it says on the agenda:
1996-97 Operating Budget [part 2]
At the last meeting, March 27, the committee saw a sketched-out budget from provost Jim Kalbfleisch that was almost, but not quite, balanced. It provided for paying off $18.8 million in "one-time costs", mostly for the special early retirement program, over four years.

Some of the money saved through early retirements would help departments cut their spending by 7 per cent for this year; some of it would go to a $3 million "reinvestment fund". In a letter distributed to the finance committee for today's meeting, pure math professor Frank Zorzitto is suggesting that the reinvestment fund be postponed, and the money used to pay off the debts more quickly, before something else bad happens. The fund, he writes, "looks like an attempt to deny the hurt which Waterloo has suffered".

At today's meeting, there may not be much new, as salary levels for staff and faculty haven't been set. The 1996-97 fiscal year begins May 1.

There's no Gazette today

If there were, these are the Positions Available that would appear in it: The full Positions Available list should be available on UWinfo under "Human Resources".

Also today, briefly

Today is Professional Secretaries' Day -- If you observe this day, there's still time to show your appreciation with flowers, candy, even a nice note. There are a few other announcements:
  • A "rhythm dance festival" continues today through to Sunday in the Humanities Theatre. Sunday) in the Humanities TheatGary Embro of the Math Faculty Computing Facility, starts at 5 at the University Club. Last-minute RSVPs go to Lori Suess at ext. 5075.
  • Arlene Klapman, of the UW Shop and Bookstore, informs us that both outlets will be closed for inventory this Friday.
  • Also, Pauline Valin, of the President's Office, notes that effective May 1, 1996, reservations for the Visitor's Apartment over Health Services, previously handled by her, will be handled by Gail Clarke, Housing Administration, ext. 5634.

    Chris Redmond -- credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca
    and Martin Van Nierop -- vanierop@nh3adm.uwaterloo.ca
    Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
    (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004

    Comments to the editor | About the Bulletin | Yesterday's Bulletin