As indicated in Bulletin #2, on Friday, March 14, 1997, NASA and the University begin negotiations regarding the construction of a new collective agreement for trust-funded University employees. The following are highlights from the University's and NASA's initial draft proposals:
Each trust employee shall belong to one of four categories:
Category (A): Includes employees in the job family of Research Technical in the fields of science and medicine and includes job titles such as technicians, technologists, research assistants, research associates, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduate students who commenced employment on or after January 1, 1996.
Category (B): A trust employee who does not fall under category (A) and who is appointed for a fixed term of less than twelve months continuous duration.
Category (C): A trust employee who does not fall under category (A) or (B) and who is appointed for a fixed term of less than five years.
Category (D): A trust employee who does not fall under category (A),(B) or (C).
Category (A) and (B) trust employees shall be eligible for all of the terms and conditions of the NASA collective agreement applicable to NASA Temporary Employees. Once these individuals accumulate more than twelve months service within a two year period, the employee shall be treated as a Category (C) trust employee.
For Category (C) employees, all provisions of the collective agreement applicable to regular employees shall apply except for provisions dealing with service, seniority, layoff and recall which will apply in a modified fashion as outlined in the draft proposal.
Category (D) trust employees shall be regarded as regular employees, and all relevant provisions of the collective agreement shall apply.
The new collective agreement applying to trust employees would not include:
All other trust funded employees would fall under the current NASA collective agreement.
Basically, the trust holder is the sole determinant of the trust employee to be hired and in setting out the duties/responsibilities of the trust employee.
The probationary period under the current NASA collective agreement would not be applicable to trust employees under consecutive term appointments.
The University would develop an "availability for hire" list which would list trust staff who were released or not hired for further terms. However, there would be no obligation to hire trust employees from this list.
Trust employees could be terminated with notice prior to the end of a term where research grant funds are inadequate to continue, qualifications of the appointee did not meet the demands of the position, the working relationship between the appointee and the trust holder jeopardizes the viability of the work, the position is no longer required due to reassignment of duties, or for other legitimate business reasons.
There must be flexibility to accommodate the terms and conditions imposed by granting agencies.
The above provisions represent the initial bargaining positions that have been exchanged between the parties and form the basis for discussions beginning Friday, March 14, 1997. NASA will continue to inform you of changes as negotiations continue and invites your comments and input. Please direct your ideas or comments to John Wevers (email - jwevers@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca) or directly to the NASA Office, telephone 439-3181 or FAX 433-5056.
We look forward to hearing from you.