ARTICLE 15 - Financial Exigency
15:01 Prior to a declaration by the Board of Governors of a state of financial exigency requiring a reduction in the University budget for the salaries and benefits of members, or termination or lay-off of members, the President shall consult the Joint Consultative Committee and shall report to the Board of Governors, the Senate and the Association that in their opinion the financial condition of the University is sufficiently grave to endanger the continued functioning of the academic units of the University.
15:02 Except for replacements, no new personnel shall be appointed or hired from the date of the Report of the President under clause 15:01 until the conclusion of the procedures envisaged by this Article 15 save in exceptional circumstances where one (1) administrative appointment is required in the circumstances of the financial exigency or with the approval of the Faculty Association Executive.
15:03 Within fifteen (15) days of the President's report referred to in clause 15:01 a Commission shall be constituted to determine whether and to what extent the University's financial condition constitutes a financial exigency, i.e., a genuine financial crisis involving a deficit for at least one fiscal year which is projected by generally accepted accounting principles to continue, and constituting a problem sufficiently grave that the University's continued functioning would be endangered unless the budgetary allocation for salaries and benefits of members is reduced.
15:04 The Commission shall be composed of three (3) members and shall not include any person who has had any interest in the matters coming before the Commission or who is acting, or has, within a period of six (6) months preceding the date of their appointment, acted as solicitor, counsel or agent of either of the parties. One (1) member shall be nominated by the Board of Governors and one (1) member shall be nominated by the Association Council. Each of the parties shall notify the other of its nominee within ten (10) days of the President's Report. If either party fails to appoint a nominee, the appointment shall be made by the senior County Court Judge, Essex County, upon the request of either party. The two (2) members so nominated shall, within five (5) days of the appointment of the second of them, appoint a Chairperson. Failing this Agreement of the nominees upon a Chairperson, the parties shall ask Gordon Simmons to act as Chairperson or, if he is unable to act, to appoint a Chairperson. The Commission shall meet within fifteen (15) days of its establishment and shall report its findings to the Board of Governors with a copy to the Association within forty-five (45) days of its first meeting. The Commission shall establish its own rules of procedure and shall have power to call for financial and other data or information it deems relevant and for submissions from any individuals or groups of individuals. In any event, the Board of Governors and Association shall have reasonable opportunity to make representations to the Commission. The onus shall be on the Board of Governors to establish the bona fides of the financial exigency. The Commission shall consider whether all reasonable steps have been taken to:
(a) reduce expenditures including salaries and/or benefits in other areas,
(b) increase revenues to the University including assistance from government and funding agencies, and
(c) utilize interim deficit financing;
and it may consider any other matters it deems relevant.
15:05 The report of the Commission shall include the amount of reduction required, if any, in the budgetary allocation for salaries and benefits of members to meet the financial exigency.
15:06 After its consideration of the report of the Commission, the Board of Governors may declare a state of financial exigency and, if so, it shall indicate in its declaration the amount of reduction in the budgetary allocation for salaries and/or benefits of members to be effected which shall not exceed the amount of the reduction determined by the Commission.
15:07 In the event that the Board of Governors makes a declaration of a state of financial exigency, it shall transmit forthwith copies of the declaration to the President, the Senate and the Association. Within fifteen (15) days of the Board's transmittal of its declaration to the Association the parties shall meet and shall endeavour to conclude within a further thirty (30) days amendments to this Agreement to effect the reduction in the budgetary allocation for salaries and/or benefits of members as indicated in the Board's declaration.
15:08 Whenever the Board of Governors and Association are unable to agree within the said thirty (30) days or where the reductions agreed upon are less than the amount indicated in the Board's declaration, the parties agree to establish a Task Force forthwith to identify the areas within the University in which terminations and/or lay-offs are to take place and to identify individual members to be terminated and/or laid-off in accordance with the lay-off procedures and criteria set forth in Article 16 of this Agreement.
15:09 The Task Force shall be composed of two (2) members appointed by the Board of Governors and two (2) members
appointed by the Association, and a Chairperson to be chosen from the following:
1. Brian Langille
2. Pamela Chapman
3. Owen Shime
Each of the foregoing persons shall serve as Chairperson of the Task Force in the order listed. If they are not available within a reasonable period of time, but in any event not to exceed twenty-one (21) days, the next person in order shall be selected and so on until one (1) of the persons is available. By mutual consent, however, any one may be selected out of turn. If none of the persons is available within a reasonable time, but in any event not to exceed twenty-one (21) days, another person may be selected to serve as Chairperson by mutual consent. If such selection has not been made within fourteen (14) days, the parties shall ask Mr. Justice T. Zuber, to appoint a Chairperson, and should he not be willing or able to do so, the Honourable Madam Justice Alison Harvison Young shall be asked. The Task Force shall meet within fifteen (15) days of its establishment and shall report its findings to the Board of Governors with a copy to the Association within forty-five (45) days of its first meeting.
15:10 The decision of a simple majority of the Task Force is the decision of the Task Force, but if there is no majority the decision of the Chairperson governs.
15:11 The decision of the Task Force shall be final and binding on the parties. However, an individual member or a group of members laid off or terminated shall have recourse to the grievance and arbitration procedures of this Agreement on the grounds of unjust treatment in the application of the criteria as set out in Article 16 of this Agreement, or of a procedural irregularity or defect in the application of, or failure to apply, the procedures set out in this Article 15 sufficient to justify quashing the decision.
15:12 The Board of Governors shall not terminate any contract of a member or lay-off a member for financial reasons except in accordance with this Article 15.
