Newsletter  SEPTEMBER  2001, VOLUME 28.1 Tony Petric, EDITOR

in this issue:  President's Report Pension Surplus Update Committees 2001-02 New & Retiring  Early Retirement Tenure & Promotion Modem Pool Funding Tuition Bursary Bigger Paycheque Published Books Quebec Legal Defence Salary Stats

It is traditional for the president to outline the issues that confront the Association in the upcoming year.  One difficulty that arises in so doing is that our Association year is May to April while the academic year is September to August.  Consequently "the Year ahead" always includes an account of what your Executive was up to in the past four months.  So I will lead off with that.

The major event of the summer was the final signing of all the documents necessary for the distribution of the pension surplus. These documents (Letter of Understanding, Surplus Sharing Settlement Agreement and New Pension Plan) are all available at our website (www.mcmaster.ca/mufa).  The court date when the process really gets moving is October31.  This means that there is no possibility of any money in our pockets before the end of 2001. [See Les Robb’s article, below, for more on this.]

The  other main decision was the Joint Committee agreement that for purposes of the implementation of the Rights and Responsibilities of Faculty during Work Stoppages by Other Groups at McMaster University document, the number of days worked by a faculty member is 260.  Since the policy applies to "scheduled" duties and our teaching  terms are respectively 60, 60 and 30 days this is a good compromise between 150 and 365!

The major concern of the next few months is of course faculty remuneration.  Our Joint Committee representatives, who also serve as MUFA’s bargaining team, are Bernadette Lynn (Past President and Chair of the Remuneration Committee), Lorraine Allan (Vice- President), and myself.  Since both Bernadette and Lorraine have negotiated before, the Association's brief will be well and forcefully put.

As for benefits , we are now living in a different world.  In the past, it is fair to say, any benefit accruing to or bargained by MUFA was bestowed upon the staff.  Now that MUSA is bargaining directly on these fronts, we can look more to our own interests.  Among these are long term disability, tuition bursaries, and of course the above-mentioned pension.  The tuition bursary in particular is a thorny point since we negotiated a lump sum to be disbursed, but are limited to $3000 a year for each dependent.  In our two-year (1997/98 - 1998/99) agreement and again in our three-year (1999/00, 2000/01, 2001/02) agreement, we negotiated a fund of $200,000 per year to cover tuition bursaries for dependents.  Even though over $90,000 from that allotment was not spent over these years, we cannot raise individual bursaries unilaterally for faculty because of the University’s action of giving staff what we negotiated and holding to harmonization.

Staying with money issues but leaving the bargaining context we look forward to the University bringing forward  a decent supplementary retirement plan.  It is shocking that we have no plan in place to supplement the pension payable for those earning above the government’s allowed amounts for our sort of pension plan.  How the University hopes to induce new faculty to come to Mac or to retain those already here in the absence of such a plan is a mystery to me.

Finally on the provincial/national scene  OCUFA and CAUT are both concerned with market differentials and with the plight of faculty hired during the Social Contract.  We are watching these developments with interest.

Let me close by wishing you all a successful and productive new academic year.

 Tom Davison
 President

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Pension Surplus Update

You have received various announcements from me over the summer updating our progress on pension surplus matters.  This is a further update and an attempt to consolidate the earlier information  in one place.

After finishing the campaign to get support for the proposal in early May,  we turned to finalizing a number of important documents.   These included the final agreement (now known as the Surplus Sharing Settlement Agreement), the new Pension Plan text, a revised old pension plan text, and a letter of understanding between the university and the employee organizations about future plan expenses.  I will say a few words about each of these in turn:

The Surplus Sharing Settlement Agreement is the final version of the agreement made last September.  It fills in a lot of the details and clarifies some of the issues particularly around taxation matters.  It is on the MUFA web site.

The new pension plan (known as, the Contributory Pension Plan For Salaried Employees of McMaster University Including McMaster Divinity College 2000, or Plan 2000 for short) is also on the MUFA web site.  It incorporates the changes necessary to allow the surplus distribution and the service buy back.

The revised former Pension Plan with revisions to allow the transfer of assets and liabilities out of the existing plan to the new Plan 2000 for those participating in the surplus distribution is not on the web site.   The changes are very minor and the Plan text is available in the Faculty Association offices if anyone wishes to view it

The letter of understanding is an agreement between the Administration and the employee associations.  It extends an agreement we had reached some years ago about our earlier Plan to the new Plan (Plan 2000).  It deals with administrative expenses that can be charged to the pension plan.

At the same time as these documents were in preparation, our lawyers were working with the University’s lawyers to prepare the various legal (court) documents that were going to be needed.  These have now been submitted to the court and are available for viewing on the web site.  The court procedure is in two stages.  The first one, which was completed in the first week of September involved submitting an Application outlining how we planned to proceed in the distribution including advertising our activities to those who may have an interest in the proceedings.  The second stage is scheduled for the end of October and is the formal hearing when individuals who wish to be heard by the courts may appear.  We do not anticipate any interventions at this second stage though this would be the opportunity for anyone who objects to the distribution to make her or his case.  Assuming we receive approval at this October meeting, the proposal will then go to the Financial Services Commission (FSCO) for final approval.  This will take 90 days, I am told, so we do not anticipate distributing surplus until February at the earliest.

While the Courts and FSCO are considering our proposal we (or rather, the Plan actuaries) are also pressing ahead with getting new options statements ready for distribution.  New calculations have to be made to reflect the retroactive increases awarded MUSA members as a result of their recent collective agreement.  This will increase the surplus shares of MUSA members, but should not affect the shares of others as there was sufficient money not allocated in the last round to accommodate the increase.  However, because there was money held back for this purpose, there will be adjustments (likely minor) to everyone’s surplus share as well.  We do not have an exact time frame for sending out the revised statements but it seems wise to wait until after the courts approve the plan at the end of October.  Even then, there are many other things the actuaries will be busy with and it will take time to print and get these forms in the mail so don’t be surprised if the forms are even later than that arriving.

Surplus sharing plan members will be required to return the  form  indicating  how  they wish their share to be distributed — how much to cash, how much to their RRSP (if they have room),  and how much if any to the buy back option.  The rules governing these options will be spelled out in more detail at that time and we are considering other ways  to  clarify  the options.  In any case, you should keep in mind that the University will need to get in touch with you at least twice more so if you are changing addresses, it is imperative that you keep the University informed.

 Les Robb

McMaster University
Summary of Authorizations received
as of August 14, 2001

	# of  Members	Received "Yes"	Received "No"	% Yes	Totals
Total Members	4,496	4,468	1	99.4%
ACTIVES					3029/3038     99.7%
Pre July 2000	2,906	2,898	1	99.7%
Post July 2000	126	125		99.2%
Misc. (Deferred, Refunds, Undecided)	6	6		100%
INACTIVES					1438/1458     98.6%
Pre July 2000	2	2		100%
Post July 2000	7	7		100%
Pensioners	974	972		99.8%
Surviving Spouses	105	104		99.0%
Misc. (Deferred, Refunds, Undecided)	370	353		95.4%

Faculty Handbook Updates

Revision pages for the Faculty Handbook, which was first distributed in October 1999, have recently been mailed out to MUFA members and administrative departments.  If you did not receive your package, contact the MUFA Office (ext. 24682; mufa@mcmaster.ca).  If you require another hard copy of the complete Handbook, contact the Bookstore’s Custom CourseWare Department at extension 23356.

The Faculty Handbook is also available on the MUFA web page (www.mcmaster.ca/mufa).

We wish to extend best wishes to those faculty and librarians who have recently retired.  We look forward to seeing them at the annual luncheon in their honour (this year on September 26) hosted jointly by the Presidents of the University and the Faculty Association.

Observers Needed

Required: faculty and librarians who are members of the Faculty Association — yes, RETIREES also qualify — to serve as observers for  appeal and grievance hearings.  The role of the Observer is to report on the adequacy of the procedures, with a view to making recommendations to improve relevant policies, not to comment on the conduct or the judgement of the tribunal.  Hearings usually take place over one or two days.  For more information, send us an e-mail (mufa@mcmaster.ca), give us a call (24682), or drop us a line (HH 103A).

In the past, some faculty members have signed individual agreements with the University concerning the conditions of their retirement.  These agreements have covered special (non-standard) access to office space, laboratory facilities and other matters.  At present, there is no established procedure, other than the civil courts, for resolving subsequent disputes concerning the interpretation of such agreements.  The Faculty General Grievance Procedure applies only to those who “hold the academic rank of professor, associate professor, assistant professor or lecturer”.  Professors emeriti are not covered even in the case of disputes concerning an agreement signed prior to retirement.  Hence, it is especially important that clear, specific wording be used in such agreements.  It is strongly recommended that our colleagues seek the advice of MUFA and of their own lawyers before signing any such agreements.

 

If You Are Being Considered for
Tenure and/or Promotion,
Read On

If you are a faculty member who is being considered for tenure and promotion to Associate Professor or for promotion to Professor, you may find it helpful to have a faculty colleague act as an advisor during this process.  This colleague can assist in the preparation of your research résumé, teaching dossier and other material.  An advisor can also accompany you to interviews at various stages of the process should this prove necessary.

This practice has been informally sanctioned in the past.  The Tenure and Promotion Policy explicitly states that a faculty member may be accompanied by a faculty colleague acting as an advisor when appearing before a Departmental, Faculty or Senate  committee.

Please feel free to contact the Chair of the MUFA Committee on Special Enquiries and Grievances should you desire further information concerning this policy or assistance in seeking out an appropriate advisor.
 
 

Modem Pool Funding

The Joint Committee has set the 2001/02 modem pool funding allocation, effective July 1, 2001,  at $80.  The level of spending will be reviewed at the January meeting of the Joint Committee.

Only faculty on the Career/Progress Merit Scheme and librarians who are MUFA members are eligible for this benefit.  To set up an account or if you have questions about your account, please contact the CIS Main Office at ext. 24357 or e-mail: carmela@mcmaster.ca.
 
 

Tuition Bursary

The Joint Committee has agreed to maintain the current level of the Tuition Bursary Benefit for 2001/02: $100 per credit up to a limit of $3,000 per academic year for full- or part-time study at McMaster for eligible spouses and dependents of librarians and faculty on the CP/M Plan.
 
 

Look for a Bigger Paycheque on October 15

Effective October 1, 2001 for faculty on the CP/M Plan, and September 16, 2001 for MUFA librarians, there will be an across-the-board increase of 1.25% of faculty base salaries at June 30, 2001 and librarian base salaries at June 15, 2001.  As well, salary floors, inflection points and the CP/M steps will be adjusted for faculty by 1.25%.  Salary scales for librarians will be increased by 1.25% .
 
 

Have You Had a Book Published Lately?

The University Library wishes to ensure that we acquire a copy of any book written by a faculty member in Business, Engineering, Humanities, Social Sciences and Science.  It appears that no office on campus keeps a collective record of these publications.

If you are having a book published, please send your name, Department, book title(s) and publication details to Charlotte A. Stewart, Assistant University Librarian, Collections Management and Development, Room 504, Mills Library (stewch@mcmaster.ca).

 Anne Plessl
 Library Development Officer

 

Support for Québec Legal Defence Fund

In response to a directive given by Council at its April 2001 meetings, CAUT has donated $10,000 to the legal defence fund of the Québec Legal Collective.  The Collective is a group of Québec law students, lawyers, and law professors who have volunteered to provide legal advice and assistance to those arrested during the People’s Summit of the Americas which was held in Québec City on April 20-22, 2001.  Currently, the Québec Legal Collective has about 250 files of people who were charged.  The Collective is planning a collective defence for those who choose that option.  The alternative is for each person charged to hire his/her own lawyer.  Depending on the number of cases and the nature of the charges that are finally brought, this will run into a large amount of money.  In addition to the direct legal costs, there are expenses for expert witnesses, transcripts, and other ancillary expenses.  Those from outside Québec City will have to travel back for the trials.

As a group of volunteers handling a large number of serious cases, the Collective is  in need of substantial financial support.  The CAW, the student association at Laval  University, Laval University, and the Canadian Labour Congress are among those who have already donated to the cause.

If you are interested in making a donation to the legal defence fund, you can do so in either of two ways:

 Directly to the Collective:  Québec Legal Defence, 1614 Bernard, Outremont, Québec H2V 1X2

 Through CAUT with instructions that the donation should be sent to the Québec Legal Collective defence fund.  The cheque should be made payable to the CAUT Civil Liberties Defence Fund and mailed to CAUT, 2675 Queensview Drive, Ottawa, Ontario K2B 8K2.  The CAUT Civil Liberties Defence Fund is a registered charity so all donations qualify for a tax receipt.

Information about the Québec Legal Collective is available on their website:

http://www.quebeclegal.org

 

The great Martin Luther King,
in describing times of trial and tribulation, once said that:
"In the end, it is not the words of your enemies that you remember,
it is the silence of your friends."

         Prime Minister Jean Chrétien
         September 14, 2001

 

McMaster Faculty Salary Statistics 2000/01