November 4, 2011

Hon. Jennifer Howard
Minister of Labour and Immigration
Government of Manitoba
317 Legislative Building
450 Broadway
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0V8 

Dear Minister:

On behalf of the 66,000 members of the Canadian Association of University Teachers, we are writing to urge your government not to intervene in the ongoing labour dispute between Brandon University and its faculty association.

The university administration and the Brandon University Faculty Association remain in mediation. Sending the dispute to binding arbitration at this time would undermine the ongoing collective bargaining process.

Your role as Minister is to foster collective bargaining and not get directly involved in any dispute. For collective bargaining to work, the parties themselves must willingly negotiate. We call on you to allow the collective bargaining process to continue and to allow the university and the faculty association to reach a mutually acceptable agreement. 

Sincerely,


Wayne D. Peters, President
James L. Turk, Executive Director

/mmp

cc:    Hon. Erin Selby, Minister of Advanced Education and Literacy
        Hon. Stan Struthers, Minister of Finance