Roughly 3,500 part-time staff at three universities in Halifax could be just days away from strike action.
Lauren McKenzie, president of CUPE, tells our newsroom, they have come to an impasse with Mount Saint Vincent, Dalhousie and Saint Mary’s and are nearing the end of the 14-day cooling off period.
“The day 13 meeting, essentially, is the last opportunity for parties to come to the table and to achieve deals,” says McKenzie.
That day is October 20 for Dal, October 21 for the Mount and October 22 for Saint Mary’s, putting them all in a legal strike position the next day if talks fail.
McKenzie says for our area, this could be the first time that members from all three universities would be on strike at the same time.
“Our members teach at multiple schools, so they’re the same people. We have the situation where someone may be on strike in multiple institutions at the same time,” adds McKenzie.
She says, they are coordinating and getting members as prepared as they can.
“We’re feeling hopeful and we’re feeling busy,” says McKenzie. “You know, we really could not have anticipated the schedule that we’re finding ourselves in.”
What will a strike mean?
Part-time staff at universities include Teacher’s Assistants, demonstrators and markers, with a good number of them students.
McKenzie says without them on the job it would affect things like feedback and assessments, exam schedules and in-person tutorials.
Sticking points
Wages and job security are the key issues.
MacKenzie says the precarity members experience has a huge impact on the students they work with in the classroom.
“Our working conditions are their learning conditions,” adds McKenzie. “With no job security and poverty wages, I don’t know how the universities expect us to deliver the excellence that they advertise and use to recruit and promote the quality of education that’s available here in Nova Scotia,” says McKenzie.
What members are looking for is fair and reasonable, according to McKenzie, considering cost of living and the work that they do.
“So, we’re ready to go. We’re ready to bring a deal to our members, it that is at all possible.”
Part-time members were on strike in 2022, with pay a key factor, and that labour dispute lasted nearly one month.
Roughly 1,000 faculty members recently returned to the job at Dalhousie after job action that stretched just over five weeks in August and September.
