FARDP Negotiations Update - November 2025

On November 7, the FARDP Negotiations Team and RDP met to bargain. The following articles were signed off by all parties. This indicates that both groups agree on the language and recommend that language to their stakeholders. Any articles that have been signed off at the bargaining table still have to be ratified in a vote by all faculty.

We have agreement on:

Article 1: Length of the Agreement – will go from July 2024 to June 2028 (same as everyone else)
Article 2: Membership in the Association – contracts will advise faculty to contact the Association prior to signing. This will help new faculty with placement on the grid.
Article 3: Exemption from Membership – there will no longer be faculty who are not FARDP
Article 4: Dues and Association Business (no change)
Article 5: Management Rights (no change – FARDP withdrew proposal regarding consultation)
Article 6: Probation and Continuous Appointment – addition of Part Time Probationary who become Part Time Continuous
Article 9: Redundancy and Reassignment (no change – article was revised last round of bargaining)
Article 11: Benefits (no change – FARDP withdrew proposal regarding changes to funding of benefits)
Article 12: Vacations – uninterrupted days drops from 35 to 30 (still entitled to 45 vacation days)
Article 13: Leave of Absence – increase flexible leave days from 3 to 4
Article 15: Tuition Free Waiver – Continuous faculty can accrue tuition waiver to use upon retirement
Article 16: Notice of Retirement – decrease notice period by 1 month. If not adequate notice then RDP can count replacement as Probationary/Continuous in the Article 7 ratio (full workload equivalence of all faculty must be 65% Probationary/Continuous).
Article 17: Discipline (no change – rewritten last round)
Article 18: Grievance (no change – rewritten last round)
Article 19: Continuous Part Time – temporary Part Time Continuous can elect to be permanent Part Time Continuous
Appendix A: Continuous Appointment Appeal (no change)
Appendix B: Supplemental Benefits for Pregnancy Leave (no change)
LOU 2: Insurance Coverage for Sessionals doing PD on Unpaid Contracts (no change to process – cleaned up wording)
LOU 3: Dual Credit (no change)
LOU 4: Flexible Leave – made permanent by moving into Article 13
LOU 5: Joint Dispute Resolution Committee – removed
LOU 6: Scholarship Requirements – removed
LOU 8: Workload Project – removed
LOU 9: Research and Scholarship Fund – removed
LOU Y: AI Working Group – 6 faculty and 6 admin to explore opportunities and challenges of AI
LOU Z: Position Description for Counsellors, Librarians, Research Commons, and Learning Designers – define scope of work to prevent job creep

What we do not have agreement on…

Article 7: Part Time (PT) and Sessional Contracts –
- FARDP wants time recognition for the non-teaching work done by Sessional faculty.
- FARDP wants PT pro-rated on the Full Time grid with the ability to move up. FARDP gave up requests for time recognition to get PT higher pay. RDP agreed to the Full Time grid but with very little movement.
Article 8: Workload –
- RDP wants to increase workload for faculty who are not in Nursing or Trades. For some faculty, that would be a 20% increase in workload.
- RDP wants to maintain a similar workload for Nursing and to lower Trades workloads.
- FARDP wants a lower workload for Nurses and faculty who currently teach a 450 in degrees and diplomas. FARDP is willing to keep workloads for those in Humanities, Business, and other disciplines with a workload lower than 450 at status quo to get to a deal. FARDP is NOT willing to make anyone’s workload go up.
Article 10: Salary-
- RDP wants a 10% increase over 4 years with no backpay and FARDP wants a 12% increase with back pay (what everyone else has received across the province)
- FARDP wants PT pro-rated on the Full Time grid with the ability to move up. RDP agreed to the Full Time grid with very little movement.
- FARDP wants additional rows on the salary grid to make pay (particularly for journeypeople) similar to SAIT and NAIT
Article 14: PD – RDP wants a 0.5% decrease and FARDP wants to keep the 5% PD fund as is
LOU 1: Health Spending Account – RDP is at 750 (what AUPE and Exempt currently have, even though AUPE is bargaining for higher right now) and FARDP is at 850 (what all other faculty in ACIFA are at)
Article F: Academic Freedom – RDP has a policy and FARDP wants stronger language (not academic freedom subject to policies and constraints)

What is next…

RDP is no longer willing to negotiate.

RDP won’t agree to a 12% increase in salary without FARDP dropping additional rows to the grid and agreeing to RDP’s workload model. As great as the achievements listed above, they are all little things. The most important issues are still unresolved. And, what they are proposing on those outstanding issues do not help any of our faculty.

It does not help Part Time faculty who are poorly paid.
It doesn’t help Sessionals who are doing free work after their contract ends.
It does not help Trades faculty who are the lowest paid in the province. Trades also have the highest workload, but for Trades the additional rows on the grid are far more important than a change in workload.
It doesn’t help Nurses who need a lower workload. Offering a market supplement (extra 5% pay) just for Nurses does not resolve the issue for why they left industry to teach. Many of our Nursing faculty took $20,000 pay cuts to teach in hopes of a better work life balance and less stress. High workloads, where life and death are in the balance, is burning out our faculty.
It doesn’t help faculty whose workload would increase up to 20% only to get a 12% raise. Their hourly wage would decrease. Even a 12% raise across 4 years doesn’t cover past inflation. Increasing workload for some of our faculty makes a portion of our FARDP faculty poorer at the expense of others.
It doesn’t help faculty who are trying to do research. RDP’s proposal would increase the research workload for faculty in Business and Psychology (currently at 337.5, would increase to 360). The current research workload is higher than Mount Royal or MacEwan, who teach equivalent programs.
It doesn’t help faculty who use most or all of their PD funds to maintain their credentials, licenses, and insurance. RDP’s proposal does not cover any of those, even though they are required to maintain our accreditation. On top of that, they want to lower the Professional Development fund from 5% to 4.5%.
All the while, increasing everyone’s non-teaching responsibilities. You would be scheduled 40 hours a week. According to People and Culture you are currently scheduled for 35. Increased expectations for projects and committees (to about 300 hours a year).
And on top of all of that…creating no protections for faculty against the political winds we are seeing elsewhere. Protections from issues like the banning of specific terminology and topics in our classes.

FARDP and RDP are going to Mediation.

RDP has proposed Formal Mediation.

Why Formal Mediation? There are two options: informal mediation and formal mediation. Formal mediation starts the strike/lockout process. RDP believes this additional incentive might bring the groups together. RDP and FARDP are currently investigating whether a mediator can be found in December to potentially conduct informal mediation (before anyone has to consider going to formal mediation).

If FARDP ends up in Formal Mediation. What happens?

RDP and FARDP can continue to bargain with a mediator’s assistance for as long as both parties find it helpful. If that mediation results in a proposal that FARDP endorses, then the faculty get to vote. If that mediation results in a proposal that FARDP does not endorse, RDP can request a vote by faculty of their proposal (they get one of these per round of bargaining). If faculty vote this down, then there is a 2 week cooling off period. Then faculty can vote to strike or RDP can call for a lockout. If a strike vote is successful then a strike can be declared 72 hours after the vote. If a lockout is called, then FARDP will call for a strike vote in response. FARDP will want to make sure that RDP does not call for a lockout, terminate the collective agreement, then end the lockout on their own terms. FARDP will want to ensure that no work resumes until we have a collective agreement we endorse.

FARDP hopes the outstanding issues can be resolved at INFORMAL mediation so that we can maintain the good working relationship between faculty and RDP Administration. But… if we have to go to FORMAL mediation or beyond to stand up for our faculty, to get the same salary as other institutions, and to prevent the heavy workloads we have from getting even worse, FARDP will do it. And we will do it TOGETHER.

Now is the time for Conversation.

Please stay after the next program or School meeting to talk with your FARDP Exec and members of the FARDP Negotiations Team. FARDP will also be hosting a town hall at the end of November with more information. Look for invites in your email. The Negotiations Team will also be sending out informational videos over the next couple of weeks.