We are pleased to share the Policies for Librarians (PFL) tentative agreements that will be presented for ratification to the UTFA Council in two weeks, on November 23, 2023. On December 18, 2023, these agreements will be presented to the Governing Council of the University of Toronto for ratification. This modernized PFL will replace the one that existed since 1978, and is a result of six years of negotiations (starting in January 2018) between UTFA’s PFL negotiation team and the Administration.
In June, both the UTFA Executive Committee and UTFA Council voted unanimously to endorse the in-principle agreements and the subsequent months were devoted to finalizing the legal texts. We are now preparing for the final step of a ratification vote by Council, as Article 12.3 of the UTFA Bylaws requires.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & AGREEMENT FULL TEXT
Please click here for an Executive Summary of the PFL Agreement which outlines the substantive gains and improvements in working conditions that were achieved for U of T Librarians. Please review the tentative "The Agreement" which consists of the following documents:
- Letter of Understanding (LOU) on Scholars Portal CLTA Librarians;
- LOU on Research or Study Leave for Scholars Portal Librarians;
- LOU on Secondments for Librarians;
- Policies for Librarians;
- Memorandum of Agreement, Article 4: Research and Study Leave; and
- Memorandum of Settlement
QUESTIONS?
Should you have any questions before UTFA’s November 23rd ratification vote at Council, we will be happy to answer them either via email or via a Zoom meeting:
Email: you may email your question(s) to any of the the following members of the Policies for Librarians negotiation team:
Kathleen Scheaffer, kathleen.scheaffer@utoronto.ca
Harriet Sonne de Torrens, harriet.sonne@utoronto.ca
Whitney Kemble, whitney.kemble@utoronto.ca
Zoom: Members of the PfL negotiation team will be available on November 20th. Please note, there will not be a presentation. This is solely a time to answer specific questions from those who have read the agreements. If you would like to connect with us via Zoom please register below:
November 20, 2023
- 10:30am-11:15am Librarian I, Librarian II, and faculty
- 11:15am-12pm Librarian III, Librarian IV, and faculty
For your information, the timeline for the parties to modernize and negotiate the amendments to the Policies for Librarians is below.
RECAP OF KEY DATES
November 23, 2023
- Ratification vote at UTFA Council
December 18, 2023
- Ratification vote at Governing Council
January 1, 2024
- The PFL Agreements come into effect (pending ratification by both UTFA and the Administration via Governing Council)
To ensure our librarian colleagues know how the PFL changes will impact them, UTFA will be holding an educational and celebratory event in 2024. There will be a presentation, plenty of time for questions and answers, and big cheers!
Sincerely,
Kathleen Scheaffer
Chief Negotiator, Policies for Librarians
Ariel Katz
UTFA Vice-President, Salary, Benefits, Pensions and Workload
Terezia Zorić
UTFA President