Dear Colleagues,
In this update:
- 2026 Bargaining Update and Bargaining Survey (closes Jan 9)
- UPP Divestment Motion Update
- Nominations Open for Academic Citizenship Award
2026 Bargaining Update and Bargaining Survey
As announced on December 17th, UTFA presented the senior Administration with our notice to bargain salary, benefits, and workload for the period July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027. UTFA’s approach to bargaining for this round will be to insist that the Administration adhere to the process outlined in Article 6 of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), with either a bilateral agreement or a final and binding arbitrator’s decision on all bargaining items no later than June 30, 2026 so that our members can receive timely ATB and PTR adjustments on, or very soon after, July 1, 2026.
An integral part of the bargaining process is hearing directly from you regarding your priorities. Your participation informs UTFA’s bargaining strategy and helps demonstrate to the Administration the importance of the issues we seek to advance to our members.
Your input is critical. We hope you can complete the member bargaining survey ASAP and before January 9, 2026.
UPP Divestment Motion Update
On December 5th, UTFA Leadership announced that the University Pension Plan (UPP) had responded to their questions resulting from the May 8th membership motion regarding divestment. The UTFA President and the Executive Committee did not find the UPP’s responses sufficient, and the UTFA President and several Executive Committee members met with the UPP Responsible Investment Team on December 9th. At this meeting, UTFA communicated its profound disappointment to the UPP team that UPP leaders Barbara Zvan, UPP President & CEO, and Gale Rubenstein, Chair, Board of Trustees, refused to meet with senior UTFA leaders. We relayed that their refusal reflects poorly on the UPP’s respect for faculty associations in general and for UTFA specifically.
At the December 9th meeting, the UPP leadership outlined its governance structure and the process for making decisions. However, their response fell significantly short of what UTFA Leadership considers appropriate for a pension plan established, in part, with a commitment to joint governance. Importantly, UPP stated that everything it does is driven by financial need and that the systemic impact of its investment decisions is secondary. UPP refused to provide UTFA members/plan members with a list of companies on the exclusion list and stated that it will not make the exclusion list publicly available.
Noteworthy responses from the UPP about UTFA’s May 8th, 2025, investment motion were:
- UPP is required to put financial concerns before systematic impacts;
- UPP will not provide their exclusion list;
- UTFA’s motion cannot change UPP investment decisions;
- the motion is not binding on the UPP; and
- the UPP took UTFA’s motion as information, but the UPP is bound to investigate investments independently in order to make its decisions.
A quote from a member of the UPP team who attended the meeting crystallizes the UPP’s position on UTFA’s divestment motion: “Why did the members think the motion would have an impact?”
Notwithstanding UTFA’s disappointment with the UPP senior leadership team, UTFA Leadership will work with other faculty associations and unions that share similar concerns to continue pressing for engagement on the motion passed by UTFA members.
Nominations open for Academic Citizenship Award
The UTFA Academic Citizenship Award honours one or two initiatives undertaken by members of UTFA who have made a significant contribution to our understanding of the relationship between the University and public life—whether by encouraging the positive engagement of academics in key social issues, or by working to extend democratic and accountable practices within the University itself, or by making an outstanding contribution to the well-being of their community. This award is accompanied by a $1000 prize.
Nominations are open until February 26th, 2026. Please submit your nominations to recognize the hard work of your colleagues by filling out the nomination form.
UTFA Membership Committee