Martin Schulz

News on the Faculty Association of the University of British Columbia

Hi Everyone,

The purpose of this web page is to provide analysis and contribute to discussions about the UBC Faculty Association. Please spread the word about this web page. Share the link to this website! Thank you for your support!

I am the runner-up in the 2018 election of the President of the UBC Faculty Association. My campaign website is here.

Note, I have been active on the front of academic freedom and freedom of speech for quite a while. Check out my website on academic freedom. Martin's website on Academic Freedom

News and Current Developments

Nov 1, 2018: The FA calls all UBC faculty to vote on HUGE rule changes. The FA wants to change its Constitution and Bylaws and appoint an Auditor for the 2018 fiscal year. To vote, please visit: The UBCFA Voting Website Then enter your UBC 7-digit Employee ID number and the password below. Password - TM3F3

This vote will close on Friday, November 16th at 4:30 p.m.

Note, the proposed changes of the Bylaws are here: New and old rules

The FA has created a website that provides information about the changes. Warning: The information is biased in favor of the proposed changes.

Nov 2, 2018: The UBYSSEY publishes a critical article about the proposed changes of the FA rules. New bylaws could weaken accountability

Nov 8, 2018: I took a closer look at some of the current rules of the UBCFA. What I found was shocking! The UBC Faculty Association in its current form is essentially useless. It is harmful to UBC faculty. Look at how the UBCFA handles Grievances and Appeals. Check out the decision tree at the bottom of that page. Faculty members are essentially screwed by this structure. You would expect that the FA will protect you from unfair treatment by UBC, but that is not the case at all. If the FA does not want to go to arbitration, your case will not go to arbitration. Yes, you can sue the FA under Section 12 of the Labor Relations Code , but that is in most cases unsuccessful.

Suing the FA under Section 12 of the Labor Code is very difficult because it defines the "duty of fair representation" very narrowly. That definition (as well as the entire Labor Code) is geared towards collective bargaining situations. It's main purpose is NOT to regulate individual grievances and complaints. Section 12 says that the FA "must not act in a manner that is arbitrary, discriminatory or in bad faith." These three criteria are rarely met in individual-level situations, and they are very hard to prove. They are useless. What is missing from the definition of fair representation is the duty of the FA to protect faculty members from unfair treatment by the employer. Because this is not part of the law, the FA decided to not include it. Yes, your Dean can abuse you, and the FA can laugh at you. You cannot do anything. The oligarchy rules and you are screwed.

This means that the UBCFA will NOT protect you! Faculty at UBC are risking to be abused and mistreated. Their careers can be destroyed. Their lives can be turned over. And the FA will pretend that it helps you, but it really does not care, and it will not help you. Just check out a few examples: Steven Galloway, Peter Wylie, Jennifer Berdahl, Stephen Petrina (more to come).

We need a new Faculty Association at UBC! We need to eliminate the current FA and create a new, Academic Faculty Association that really protects Faculty members. We do not need a Faculty Association that screws us and hides the salaries of their very well-paid officers.

LET'S START A NEW FACULTY ASSOCIATION AT UBC! THE OLD FA NEEDS TO BE KICKED OUT ASAP. WE NEED A FACULTY ASSOCIATION THAT CARES ABOUT FACULTY AND THAT PROTECTS OUR RIGHTS AND OUR ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

Nov 15, 2018: PLAN OF ACTION

How do we do this? How do we get a new FA? It turns out it is not that difficult! All we need are 45% of UBC faculty. So, we need to start a campaign that creates a new faculty association and then we need to make enough faculty aware of it, and then we vote. And then, bang -- the oligarchy is toppled and they old FA is kicked out.

Clearly, this plan is merely a draft at this point. But if we put our heads together, we can do it! We can make UBC academic again! We can create an ACADEMIC FACULTY ASSOCIATION and get our rights. If you want to join this effort, please let me know; we need you. If you have helpful information (e.g., cases which went wrong), please forward me relevant documentation and links. We have to end this absurd and horrible situation. The current FA needs to go.

Let's create the UBCAFA -- the "UBC ACADEMIC FACULTY ASSOCIATION"!

We can do it!


Thank you,
-Martin

Contact Martin via email

My official UBC homepage