Thread by @bryinlyin

it *could* have been a quiet morning, but the CEC decided to bombard college faculty with another blast of management propaganda

the CEC is desperate to convince you that their proposals are "reasonable" & "neutral" where CAAT-A's are unlawful & arbitrary

but it's just not true

the CEC is fixated on Bill 124, which they claim the union's proposal's "violate"

but Bill 124 is a simply a provincial cap on salary increases & public spending, which CAAT-A has already publicly accepted the (politically dubious, but that's another story) limits of

in fact, the only adjustments to compensation put forward by the union are small increases in prep & evaluation time as a direct response to the massive educational shifts created by the pandemic

is the CEC arguing that *any* increase in labor after 2019 should go unpaid?

hilariously, the CEC's alternative to these union proposals is "the most extensive independently led review since the inception of the workload formula"

but...isn't that just paying a bunch of consultants & contractors MORE to argue that faculty should be paid LESS?

another glaringly offensive point of this morning's letter is the CEC's "indigenization" proposal

management claims they plan to create a "non adversarial process led by an Indigenous facilitator [just one? really?]" that "Respects the principle of "nothing about us without us"

the CEC goes on to attack CAAT-A's proposal as "incorporating western-style litigious dispute resolution"

another phrasing of which might be: "an oversight process that includes actual legal accountability so management can't just spew platitudes while changing nothing"

it's so obvious that the CEC's plan is an empty gesture towards "reconciliation" with a few figureheads & no structural or decision-making impact

CAAT-A's plan, while unproven, focuses on building long-term, local Indigenous leadership, with concrete accountability protocols

finally (& of course), the CEC continues to invoke empty legal jargon around curriculum/intellectual property ownership, claiming that CAAT-A's proposals "violate the Copyright Act"

the translation here is: "the CEC believes it owns all faculty-produced content. full stop."

as i've already ranted about, the CEC is determined to engineer a situation where faculty materials, lectures, & intellectual innovations can be repurposed, reused, even *resold* without consent or compensation

*that's* their interpretation of "the Copyright Act"

CAAT-A is simply trying to ensure basic consent practices around curriculum reuse. do you think a person should be consulted before their professional output is, say, sold to a private college to be delivered without their involvement?

CAAT-A does! the CEC? not so much

i'm sure you're getting the picture by now. the CEC is using every dirty PR trick in the book to try to spin this process in their favor

they even claim today's letter was sent "in the interest of keeping everyone fully informed"

that's utter nonsense, and they know it.

if you want to see an *actual* comparison of CAAT-A & CEC proposals, i'd suggest revisiting this document that the faculty bargaining team released last week:

bit.ly/3HEdhZc

it sticks to the facts. it's not grandiose or moralizing or full of accusations

i've said before, & i'll happily say again: i don't think the union is perfect.

on issues like building Indigenous leadership or supporting racialized & other marginalized faculty facing institutional discrimination, CAAT-A & OPSEU have often fallen short & caused harm

& at the end of the day, the union's proposals are shaped & constrained by the bureaucratic & political limitations of the systems that surround them

nothing in CAAT-A's current offer is a panacea. but the people behind it believe in real collective power & accountability

the CEC is good at two things: cutting costs to the province & generating narratives that valorize management

neither of these "skills" serve faculty or students or anyone who believes in the long term health of the education system

ok my fingers are tired! tl;dr, the CEC continues to lie, cheat, & steal

please understand this morning's letter for what it is: propaganda to confuse & deceive; not an offer of compromise, not a pathway to a collective agreement

better, yet, keep raising hell! follow @StandWithFac

support your CAAT-A locals @OPSEULocal562 @OPSEU556 @opseulocal110 @opseulocal242 @FlemingFaculty (+many more)

maybe, uh, don't follow OPSEU central right now

keep pressure on the CEC to bargain in good faith!