Dear Colleagues,
In this Update:
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UTFA Executive for 2026-2027
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Update on Quercus Outage
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2026 Arbitration Update
UTFA Executive - 2026-2027
Council unanimously approved the following slate of candidates for Executive positions with a term from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028.
| Portfolio | Name | Term Expiration |
|---|---|---|
| Vice-President, Salary, Benefits, Pensions & Workload (& Past-President) |
Terezia Zorić |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Vice-President, Grievances |
Susan Wagner |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Vice-President, University & External Affairs |
Harriet Sonne de Torrens |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Treasurer |
Fabian Parsch |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Chair, Membership Committee |
Thom Dancer |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Chair, Librarian Committee |
Whitney Kemble |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Chair, Teaching Stream Committee |
William Ju |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Member-at-Large |
Kyla Everall |
June 30, 2028 |
|
Member-at-Large |
Arjumand Siddiqi |
June 30, 2028 |
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The following Executive members are continuing in their term until June 30, 2027: Max Mishler (Chair, Appointments Committee), Girish Daswani (Chair, Equity Committee), Rena Helms-Park (Chair, Retired Members Committee), Urvashi Chakravarty (Member-at-Large).
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Jun Nogami was acclaimed to the position of UTFA President for the term July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028. A notice of acclamation was sent to the membership on March 15. Congratulations, Jun!
We thank all Executive members for their service in advancing our members’ workplace rights.
Update on Quercus Outage
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UTFA sought feedback on the outage and received many responses expressing frustration and discontent with the Administration’s handling of the situation. The consistent feedback from members was unclear communication, lack of contingency planning, increased workload and student distress, concerns about impacts on student performance, SETs, PTR and promotion, and fears about compromised personal information and intellectual property.
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UTFA is raising these issues with senior Administration, pressing for better planning and meaningful consultation in future incidents, and seeking agreement that any negative student evaluations will not affect members’ entitlement to PTR or promotion.
2026 Arbitration Update
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A further update was provided concerning unresolved salary and benefits issues that were submitted to interest arbitration following those of May 22 and May 25, 2026.
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UTFA proposed a 4.9% ATB increase to address inflation and maintain top-of-market standing in the U15, whereas the Administration proposed a 1.5% ATB increase. The central dispute between the parties is whether UTFA salaries have fallen behind comparator institutions, with UTFA arguing our members’ salaries lag behind UBC and Queen’s, despite the Administration’s claim that they remain the highest in Canada. Before the arbitration hearing, UTFA discovered that the Administration misclassified Teaching Stream faculty in the University and College Academic Staff System (“UCASS”) salary data, labeling them below assistant professor rank, which contradicted prior agreements and artificially inflated reported average salaries by over $12,000.
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Compounding the disrespect to the Teaching Stream, the UCASS salary data does not include all of our members' salaries – it excludes academic librarians' and part-time members’ salaries. UTFA has challenged the Administration’s data and salary arguments in a Sur reply. Arbitrator Parmar is expected to release a decision by the end of June.
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For more details about the arbitration, please see our June 3, 2026, update.
Register for Promotion/Continuing Status Review Workshop for Teaching Stream Faculty
- The Promotion/Continuing Status Review Workshop for Teaching Stream Faculty was rescheduled for June 19, 2026. Register Now!