I am pleased to see Western News draw attention in its year-end Newsmakers edition (Dec. 8) to the historic negotiation and strike of the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association-Librarians and Archivists (UWOFA-LA). At the same time, I do want the Western community, and Western’s newspaper of record, to know the true ‘Negotiators’ for the librarian and archivists were, in the first instance, themselves.
They were ably represented at the table by the following dedicated group: Aniko Varpolotai (chief negotiator), Linda Dunn (deputy-chief), Elizabeth Manse (Weldon), Marisa Surmacz (Taylor), Bev Brereton (Archives), Vince Gray (Map and Data), Jim Davies (Economics), Ann Bigelow (BMOS/DAN) and Mike Dawes (Math emeritus).
This group worked tirelessly on behalf of their colleagues. I commend their service to this university in negotiating the four-year UWOFA-LA Collective Agreement.
Bryce Traister
President, UWOFA
