Through both collective bargaining and litigation, she helps trade unions and
faculty associations secure the rights and protections they and their members deserve.
As one
university faculty association representative put it, «Without Cathy's astute judgments, deliberative skills and creativity, many women faculty would not have the careers they have today.
While some full -
time faculty associations have acquired rights for these additional units, many are organized by national unions such as CUPE (which tend to hold rights for Teaching Assistant units as well).
As one of only a handful of lawyers with expertise in university labour relations, Cathy represents
numerous faculty associations in grievance arbitration, labour relations board and internal university proceedings.
Cathy also frequently
advises faculty associations on the negotiation of their collective agreements and the resolution of their disputes at interest arbitration.
Clients include the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, professional firefighter associations,
university faculty associations, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Labourers International Union of North America, and the Association of Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario.
That concern was spawned by a comment Birgeneau made in his first appearance at
a faculty association meeting before he took office, that «too many people get tenure [at U of T].
It is definitely in your best interest to have as detailed a working contract as possible with the university and to seek advice from
your faculty association or legal counsel.
Advised unionized higher education client concerning the labor aspects of its merger with a non-union college, and negotiated with
the faculty association concerning the effects of the merger
In a 2012 decision, the Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed a complaint by Larry Grovum, a professor at the University of Guelph, who alleged that a payment from the university to
the faculty association breached Section 70.
In 2009, Lakehead University defeated a grievance brought by
its faculty association that claimed it had violated faculty members» privacy and right to academic freedom by outsourcing its e-mail system to Google and thereby exposing faculty members» communications to interception by American law enforcement authorities.
The faculty association was unable to demonstrate that Lakehead's email was in fact stored on servers outside Canada, the best evidence being that it was currently stored within the country.