BUFA and Employer Positions on Salary

There has been a lot of talk in the media about the salary positions of BUFA and the Employer. The following table summarizes the movement of each of the parties on the salary scale over the three years of the contract. These figures do not account for any additional deductions resulting from proposed changes to the pension contribution amount.

Date of proposal	BUFA Salary Position	Employer Salary Position
opening	5%, 5%, 5%	0%, 0%, 2%
Oct. 6	3.9%, 4.25%, 4.4% (BUFA made 1st offer in this session)	0%, 0%, 2% (Employer made 2nd offer in this session, new package with no change to scale increases)
Oct. 11/12	3.5%, 3.8%, 4.0% (BUFA made 2nd offer in this session)	0.5%, 1.0%, 2.75% (Employer made 1st monetary offer in this session, at the demand of BUFA) 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.75% (Employer made a final offer in this session, with no change to scale increases)
October 12, STRIKE BEGINS
October 17, CONCILIATION BEGINS
Oct. 17	2.9%, 3.0%, 3.25% (BUFA made 1st offer in this session)	0.5%, 1.0%, 2.75% (new package with no change to scale increases)
Oct. 21		0.5%, 1.0%, 2.75% (new package with no change to scale increases)
October 25, CONCILIATION FAILED (Oct. 21), MEDIATION BEGINS
Oct. 26	2.6%, 3.0%, 3.25%	0.5%, 1.0%, 2.9% (2.9%) (4th year added to contract)
Oct. 31	2.5%, 2nd year goes to arbitration, 2.9% 2.4%, 2.0%, 3rd year goes to arbitration	no counter offer 0.5%, 1.0%, 2.9% or arbitrate any or all years
Nov. 3	2.0%, 2.4%, 3rd year salary re-opener	0.5%, 1.0%, 2.9% (new package with no change to scale increases)
MEDIATION ENDS Nov. 3. Talks continued between Nov. 3 and Nov. 16. We are legally bound not to reveal the contents of these discussions.
Nov. 16	1.0%, 2.0%, 3.0%, 3.0% (fourth year added)
Nov. 17		1.0%, 1.0%, 3.0%, 3.0%
Total Cumulative Increase Over 4 Years (based on last offer)	10.1%	9.0%

A few points will be helpful in the interpretation of these values:

1) The University receives an increase to its provincial operating grant of approximately 5% (in excess of $1.5 million) in each year of the contract. This was announced in April, 2011.

2) For comparison, a 1% increase to the University's entire BUFA salary bill (including benefits) is worth approximately $224,000.

3) Since last year, inflation has risen dramatically. For the year to October, 2011, Manitoba's CPI rose 3.0%. In contrast, from 2009 to 2010, it rose only 0.8%. The highest annual CPI increase from 2006 to 2010 was 2.3% in 2008.

4) According to the latest data collected by the CAUT, the average salary for full-time university teachers at all ranks in Canada is $106,174; in Manitoba, $94,110; and at Brandon University, $89,829. Many BUFA members hold lower ranks than those included in CAUT's figures, so this is an overestimation of average BUFA member salaries.