The provincial government might have been strong-arming public sector employers undergoing contract negotiations to keep salary increases to a minimum, but Finance Minister Dwight Duncan remains satisfied with The University of Western Ontario’s settlements with two of its largest employee groups.
The University of Western Ontario Staff Association (UWOSA) and The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) were each awarded a 1.5 per cent annual salary increase under their new contracts.
“That level of settlement is down quite considerably, I think, from the past. We are seeing that happen all over Ontario,” Duncan said during appearance at Western on Nov. 19, following the provincial fiscal update a day earlier. “We have seen 40 collective agreements signed in the broader public sector since the policy was announced and four of those were arbitrated settlements.
“We are seeing the average rate of settlement come down. The average rate of settlement in the Ontario public and broader public services is now below the private sector average and below what the federal government is doing with its employees.”
Duncan reiterated his commitment to reducing the province’s deficit and fielded questions from students at the Richard Ivey School of Business and the media.
He said Western, and several other public sector employers, are helping to keep salary increases to a minimum, which, in turn, is good for the province’s bottom line.
Earlier this year, the Ontario government introduced legislation prohibiting compensation increases for non-bargaining employees in the broader public sector for two years. As for unionized employees in the public sector, the government recommended newly negotiated contracts see agreements of at least two years’ duration that do not include net compensation increases.
While both UWOSA and UWOFA are unionized bargaining groups, making them exempt from the salary freeze, government recommendations to negotiate contracts without compensation increases still put pressure on those sitting at the negotiating table.
“We chose a deliberate path to work through these very difficult issues. It takes a little longer, but we are seeing success,” Duncan said. “I think at the end of the day, it builds a stronger economy. I think the last thing we need right now is a lot of labour unrest as we are beginning a very fragile recovery.”
The provincial government faced some heat from critics recently for a different financial decision – its investment of $20 million in the new Ontario Trillium Scholarships for international students. The scholarships will provide 75 international students with $40,000 a year for up to four years to pursue doctoral studies at an Ontario university. Western has been awarded seven of these scholarships.
“I think that’s about the smartest thing we can do. Yes, we are spending money to attract them here – about a tenth of what we are spending to help Ontario families and people like you (in the audience) come to post-secondary education (institutions),” Duncan said. “We are attracting the very best students from around the world at the PhD level. Many of them will wind-up staying, become great researchers, great educators and help us.
“We understand the most significant things we can do include investing in education, not cutting from education,” he says. “Education remains our top priority.”