To the Editors

Brandon Sun

In recent conversations with the media, Chief Negotiator for Brandon University, Winnipeg lawyer Mr. Grant Mitchell has suggested that BUFA is proposing a 35% salary increase over the next three years. Unfortunately, Mr. Mitchell was not asked to explain or expand on his statement. Included in the University’s last minute costings of the BUFA proposal are two very important items that result in no dollar benefit to current members of BUFA.

      The first refers to sabbatical replacements for professors on earned research leave. The situation here is well addressed by the Board of Governors in the Estimates to COPSE this fall:

        “When professors are on sabbatical leaves, the positions are rarely filled which causes scheduling problems for students in completing programs on time. It is difficult to recruit and retain faculty in an environment of high demand across the country.”

          Clearly, this is a matter with financial implications but the people who are damaged by the University’s unwillingness to even talk about it are our students. This problem in my over 30 years at BU has resulted in more students transferring to other Universities to complete degrees. The problem is particularly significant in 3-person departments and 4-person departments like Chemistry where every individual is needed every year to satisfy the degree and pre-professional requirements. 

            The second series of items that have financial implications and are included in Mr. Mitchell’s 35% costings relate to a small group of people at Brandon University who are called upon every year to teach courses on a cheap contract basis. These colleagues are the equivalent in the university arena to the cheap migrant labour brought in every year to harvest our fruits and vegetables. They, at Brandon University, are guaranteed no security, no benefits or the opportunity to do research. Fortunately, at this time only a small number of individuals are in this category and BUFA would like to see their remuneration etc. improved. The improvements BUFA has proposed are being offered at a number of other institutions in the essentially undergraduate MacLean’s category.  These improvements should not be offered to our colleagues who do overload or to retired pensioned individuals who clearly are not in that extremely low income category.  

               Dr. Bill Paton,