BUFA wishes our members a smooth end of term and a safe and restful holiday season!

Whether it’s extreme weather, a power outage, or any unexpected campus disruption, the BU Ready app helps students, faculty, and staff stay prepared, informed, and safe. It offers clear guidance on emergency procedures, connects you with vital safety resources, and empowers you to act quickly and confidently when things don’t go as planned. In short: get the info, know what to do, and keep yourself (and others) secure through whatever comes your way.

The role of the BUFA Equity Committee is to advise the Vice-President – Equity and the BUFA Executive on actions, policies, and positions BUFA may adopt in relation to activities, bargaining, strategic priorities, or any other consideration the Executive may take up in relation to advancing equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and Indigenization within the Association and in its role as sole bargaining agent for the membership.

Each year, Fair Employment Week shines a spotlight on the precarious and often overlooked working conditions experienced by contract academic staff (CAS). The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Make It Fair campaign positions FEW as more than a symbolic moment — it’s an opportunity to galvanize support, change public conversations, and strengthen collective bargaining efforts to better support CAS colleagues.

Today, David Robinson, Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) shared this dire warning with all faculty unions in Canada: On November 4, Prime Minister Mark Carney will introduce a federal budget. It has been widely telegraphed that the budget will enact 15% cuts across all federal departments over three years. If research agencies like SSHRC, NSERC and CIHR are affected, millions in research grants and graduate training could disappear.

🧡 Today, on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we honour the children who never made it back home and support residential school Survivors, their families, and communities. Today (and all days), we must learn, remember, and reflect. This isn't just about the past, but about the lingering legacies of the residential schools system and the continuing effects of colonialism on Indigenous peoples today and in future.

Don't forget to mark your calendar! There's a BUFA Town Hall on Tuesday, September 9 in CHO 212 on campus. Need a Zoom link to join remotely? Contact the BUFA Office to register for a link. Hope to see you then!

By Gautam Srivastava, BUFA President Welcome all members and onlookers to BUFA’s first ever blog accompanied by BUFA’s first ever blog post. The purpose of this blog is to create forum where interested members can keep up to date with BUFA’s regular activities and issues of concern. Communication and transparency are BUFA priorities, and this blog is among several new initiatives to further support these.