Two-year tentative agreement reached last Friday, Jan. 17, per the APUO.
The Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO) and the University of Ottawa reached a two-year tentative agreement last Friday, Jan. 17, per the APUO.
Both parties have been engaged in negotiations following the expiry of their previous collective bargaining agreement since June 12, 2024. Following unsuccessful meetings, the APUO organized protests on campus and passed a strike mandate vote with 80.9 per cent member approval in November.
Conciliation meetings held in January led to the proposed agreement which includes improvements to member’s dental and health plans, reduction from the baseline workload of five courses to four for some faculties, and administrative activities now awarded to U of O librarians.
Two “key demands” previously made by the APUO include addressing both the current employee workload and the protection of high-quality education and research.
The proposed deal improves current conditions with replacement professors who possess seven consecutive years at the university now being able to request a conversion to a Continuing Special Appointment Professor. A joint work group will now be used to monitor the support needs for both administration and teaching assistants.
Members of the APUO will be presented with greater details of the agreement at a special general meeting on Feb. 13, followed by an anonymous vote. If the union is in agreement, this will avoid a previously anticipated February strike.
Update — March 10
During the Associate Professors of the University of Ottawa’s (APUO) special general meeting on Feb. 13, an official agreement between the university and the union passed with 97.2 per cent of union support.
The two year agreement is set to last until April 30 of 2026, avoiding the previously threatened 1,300 worker strike.
APUO members will see a 2.5 per cent salary increase (fixed for inflation), an increase in extended health care coverage for vision and psychological services, as well as coverage added for acupuncture, audiology and occupational therapy.
The minimum of courses taught to be considered as a full-time professor has also dropped due to negotiations. Baseline for the faculties of education, arts and Telfer have dropped from five courses to four, as normal teaching load has dropped from seven courses to four.
