SFU and Basic Agreement Ratification
October 7, 2026
My September article noted the potential consequences for your total compensation if APSA’s ability within the Basic Agreement to advocate and negotiate on your behalf were curtailed by SFU as it tried to do in our recent Basic Agreement negotiations. I now wanted to let you know how things are going with Basic Agreement ratification: both what’s happening with APSA and what we’re hearing from the University.
As you may know, the APSA Board recommended to APSA members like you to vote in favour of option 2) of Christopher Foy’s September 11, 2026 mediator’s report. Option 2) keeps the Basic Agreement almost entirely intact, but includes provisions for the parties to seek additional mediation to better our working relationship, among other items. When you have time, I highly recommend reading Foy’s nine pages of recommendations.
Foy’s Option 1), to use a metaphor, is for the parties to agree to an orderly divorce. Foy himself notes on page 6 that:
[35] This option does not mean that the parties should let the Basic Agreement expire on December 31, 2026. If the parties choose to end their relationship of over 40 years, it makes sense to do so in a way that is the least disruptive for all concerned and should not be abruptly wound down prematurely if a more orderly path can be found.
[36] It will take a lot of time, expense, energy and cooperation to deal with the inevitable fallout from ending the relationship.
APSA has been involved in representing our members in negotiations and advocacy for 43 years, and APSA is, in many significant ways, integrated into the SFU community and its structures. Take just one example: APSA elects an APSA member to be a trustee on the SFU pension plan (the Administrative/Union Staff Pension Plan or AUPP), which also includes trustees from CUPE and PolyParty. The trustees in turn are responsible for the important work of administering the pension plan and making important decisions about current and future pension rights and entitlements for plan members. The pension plan text doesn’t contemplate a representative organization like APSA vanishing. Without representation on the SFU pension plan, it’s very unclear what the possible consequences could be for APSA member pensions, especially without APSA representation. It’s certainly something APSA has been delving into with our legal counsel.
In short, a quick “divorce” that sees the Basic Agreement abruptly end on December 31, 2026 would make worse “the inevitable fallout from ending the relationship.”
What Has SFU Signaled to APSA?
I asked both verbally and in writing on September 29, 2026, what SFU would be recommending to the Executive Committee of the SFU Board of Governors. On October 2, 2026, the University responded in writing by declining to let us know what it is recommending to the Executive Committee. They further asserted that their doing so was consistent with the University's approach in prior rounds of negotiations.
My understanding over my eight years in my role with APSA, over the course of multiple negotiations, is that SFU has and does signal to APSA what they’re going to recommend to the Board of Governors. While they won’t necessarily send us something in writing, you certainly do get a cordial, good faith sign. Doing so avoids escalating tensions.
In this case, SFU won't let us know about their recommendation to their Executive Committee. While I won’t speculate what SFU may be planning, it leaves things very uncertain precisely at a time of accumulating uncertainties at SFU: budget troubles, further layoffs, a presidential search, not to mention a possible change in provincial government.
While we hope that cooler heads prevail at SFU, APSA remains prepared for either option the University chooses from Foy’s mediation recommendations.