The union representing hundreds of part-time workers at two Halifax universities has rejected the latest proposal from one of the institutions.
CUPE 3912 has been unable to reach a new collective agreement with The Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) or Saint Mary’ with workers now on strike for two weeks.
Isabelle Nault, Vice-President of Administration at MSVU said the two sides met at the table again November 4, but the union “rejected outright” the offer.
Out of this universe
When MSVU reached out to continue negotiations, Lauren McKenzie, the president of CUPE, told Acadia News they suspected it was only to create some kind of narrative.
“When they put something in front of us that is just not in the same universe. It’s not in the same ballpark. We want to consider reasonable offers, but reasonable offers must address the proposals that we put on the table,” said McKenzie.
She said, the union’s proposals are evidence based and what MSVU offered, is nowhere near that.
Key sticking points are wages and job security with many of their members facing contracts that are only four months long.
Saint Mary’s
As for negotiations with Saint Mary’s University, McKenzie said they are still waiting to hear from them but believes their board of governors met last week.
“We hope that they take this opportunity as senior leadership to meet and have a frank conversation about what it will take to save this term and get people back to work,” added McKenzie.
Preparing for the cold
Now that we are knee-deep into the fall season, the weather is getting a lot cooler and members who are on the picket lines, are feeling it.
“Winter is setting in and we’ve had deliveries of tuques and mittens and socks to the line,” said McKenzie. “We’ve got folks who do their research in the field. They’ve been really stepping up and talking to our other members about staying warm.”
She added, despite all of this, morale is high and they are adjusting.
“We’re going to keep it up. We’re going to keep it up as long as we have to.”
CUPE and Dalhousie ratified their new collective last week.
