I was very interested in an unlimited term contract (UTC) because I’ve been learning about it from General Union for years. It’s a benefit I wanted for my family once I met the minimum service time at my employer. I consulted with the Union beforehand to give them plenty of notice before I needed support, and I gathered information from my Human Resource Department to try and understand the school’s policies.  It became apparent to me that perhaps I would be the first one to request UTC at my campus, so I was nervous about breaking trail in that way and about how they might react.  I understood that they “had to say yes”, but I wondered if they would be troublesome about it.

Two other teachers and GU members at my school joined me in asking the GU to send a request for information to the school to ask them what their policy on UTC is and how we would be treated if we applied.  I felt it was important to declare my GU membership and have the questions asked by the Union to make it a more formal request.  Our main concern was that they might freeze our salaries and stop giving us the usual salary step increases that we had been receiving for 5 or more years.  The school’s answer was not a definitive yes or no, but the GU leadership seemed comfortable with their response. When we went to HR to apply, they knew well why we were there and what we wanted to do. They asked us to use their own form, rather than the generic one the GU provided, and once we signed, that was that. That was at the beginning of my 6th year, and subsequently, my 7th year contract was UTC with no termination date.  The school has continued giving us our annual step increases as well.  None of our working conditions have changed. 

UTC is a real benefit. It doesn’t make you bulletproof so that you’ll magically never get fired or laid off, or whatnot. But it is a protection that makes the employer treat you more fairly and correctly, according to your service. Also, there are real world consequences to having a one year contract every year. How does one show a bank or other creditor stability of employment when you could literally lose your job at the end of March just with a simple non-renewal? I think UTC is something everyone should consider.

Of course, I can’t say with 100% certainty how much influence my using the GU for this inquiry had on the process or the outcome.  There’s no way of knowing that.  However, I feel that it was the best approach to have the GU parley on my behalf to set us up for success.  It was non-confrontational and informative, and in the end, I feel that my employer might have benefitted from having a positive interaction with GU members.  Perhaps that will even pay dividends in the future.

Are you interested in applying? Use our UTC application form here: https://gu.generalunion.org/UTCapp