Details of final offer
by Corey LeBlanc coreyleblanc@thecasket.ca


      In a handout distributed to union members Monday titled “Negotiations Update,” St. F.X. University outlined its most recent contract offer.
      “We had numerous requests to release this information,” St. F.X. communications and marketing manager Cindy McInnes said.
      Union members received the information either through email or their personal mailboxes on campus.
      In the correspondence, the university said the summary contains the “key elements” of its offer, adding the information reflects what was presented formally to the union during conciliation talks.
      In the four-section update, the “benefit improvements” section includes immediate pension availability for all permanent hires.
      Benefit coverage or cost sharing arrangements would remain unchanged during the agreement.
      Tuition relief for children and spouses would be available immediately for members in full-time continuing appointments.
      Parental leave top-up to 95 percent will be available for all members.
      Two emergency days of paid leave for all members per vacation year will be accessible, except for faculty and librarians who already qualify for compassionate leave.
      Active members beyond age 65 would be entitled to medical and dental benefits.
      Political leave would also be extended to all members.
      In the second section, “Compensation Summary,” the university said based on the union’s existing membership its offer includes an additional $5.16 million in compensation over the three years of the proposed agreement.
      The university information added that dollar figure would represent a 21 percent global increase for union member groups over the duration of the pact.
      In the third section, the university provides a more in-depth compensation summary for full-time faculty with its most recent offer.
      The weighted average increase for full-time faculty salaries would be 20 percent over the agreement.
      With the deal, the university said 181 faculty members (73 percent) would receive between an 18.84 and 26.66 percent raise.
      Forty-three faculty members (17 percent) at the rank of assistant and associate may receive between a 9.96 and 16.44 percent increase.
      Twenty-four faculty members (ten percent) at the rank of full, or who will reach the top of that rank, will receive between a 7.77 and 16.45 percent increase.
      Faculty at the rank of assistant promoted on time to associate would receive an increase between 28.72 and 29.52 percent.
      Faculty at the rank of associate promoted on time to full would receive an increase between 22.81 and 23.19 percent.
      In a “best case” scenario, the university said for the third year of the pact both government funding and tuition are expected to increase by three percent, with total incremental university revenues reaching $5.96 million.
      As a result, the university’s offer involves 86 percent of the best case forecast incremental revenue for the institution.
      In a “negative case” scenario, assuming only one percent commitment from government and two percent tuition increase, the university said its offer involves 104 percent of forecast incremental revenue.
      “To fund this offer, and all other expenditures in the operating budget, reallocations, higher student enrolment and cuts to university expenditures will be required across the entire university budget,” the university’s information package concluded.