MONTREAL, December 10, 2018 – The 90 ENAP course lecturers affiliated with the Public Service Alliance of Canada, Quebec region (PSAC-Quebec), have approved an initial collective agreement that now refers to them as contractual professors. The new designation is a key component of the collective bargaining for the employees who teach in the masters and doctoral programs at ENAP, a branch of Université du Québec.
Contractual professors deliver over 60% of all instruction at ENAP. One of their demands was to no longer be referred to as course lecturers, an oversimplification to students of the status of those who in fact do the majority of the teaching at ENAP and contribute to the success and standing of the institution.
The university administration agreed to recognize the employees as members of the Association des professeurs contractuels de l’ENAP (contract faculty association of ENAP), after approval of the designation by the Administrative Labour Tribunal.
The agreement also includes a wage catch-up of 28%, because the salary grid had not changed since 2007, and the parties have agreed to a retroactive salary adjustment of more than 4% as of 2016.
“We are delighted to have obtained this new status,” noted the executive of the Association des professeurs contractuels de l’ENAP. “It marks a key first step towards a new culture that recognizes ENAP’s contract faculty as stakeholders in ENAP’s participation and co-management mechanisms.” Additionally, through an education action fund, contract faculty will be able to further develop their knowledge to benefit ENAP’s masters and doctoral students. They can also propose the creation of new courses adapted at ENAP to reflect their professional qualifications.
Doctoral students will also have opportunities to deliver courses under the protection of a course allocation framework. ENAP’s online courses will now have clear norms for course allocation and management, and ENAP’s international activities will also adhere to specific provisions.
“The first collective agreement for ENAP’s contract faculty was successfully negotiated fairly quickly, thanks to ENAP’s willingness to introduce a new culture for contract faculty members’ participation in the university’s development in its Quebec City, Montreal, Gatineau and Saguenay campuses,” said Yvon Barrière, Regional Executive Vice-President of PSAC-Quebec.
About PSAC-Quebec
PSAC represents more than 180,000 members across Canada. An FTQ affiliate, PSAC-Quebec has more than 40,000 members in the federal public sector, universities and the private sector.