CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

Picketing and cancelled classes begin, as deadline passes on MUN labour dispute

Mon, January 30, 2023 

Members of Memorial University's Faculty Association were on the picket line Monday morning. (Patrick Butler/Radio-Canada - image credit)

Members of the Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association were not in classrooms Monday morning. Instead, they were on picket lines.

The university and the association reached an impasse on Sunday, and no deal was struck as the deadline of Sunday at midnight came to pass.

MUNFA president Ash Hossain said the association submitted its final offer on Sunday morning. By noon, he said, the university walked away from the table.

"Then they didn't move from there at all," Hossain said Monday morning. "Yesterday, we were ready to be there until midnight. They just walked out."

Faculty association members began picketing at eight locations around the St. John's campus at 8 a.m. Monday. Hossain said they won't prevent students or staff members from other unions from crossing the picket lines to get to classes that are still going ahead.

"That is totally fine. We are not hooligans. We are not going to be violent and stop them from doing that," Hossain said.

What's the hold up?

The university released its latest offer to the public Sunday, pleading with MUNFA to take it to its membership for a vote.

MUN's offer includes a 12 per cent salary increase over four years, 20 additional weeks of supplemental parental leave, a 24 per cent increase in pay for teaching additional courses, and extra pay and a signing bonus for those on term appointments.

With the salary increase, MUN said the average tenured professor would go from making $137,300 to $164,084 by 2026.

But Hossain said the impasse wasn't about compensation.

"We are fighting for principles. It's not about money," he said.

Terry Roberts/CBC

Two key issues are the use of lesser-paid contract employees without tenure, as well as the involvement of faculty members in making decisions on the future of the university. Hossain said they don't want to end up like Laurentian University, which ended up insolvent in 2021. Ontario's auditor general said the school's governance structure was a critical part of poor financial decisions.

MUN is governed by two branches: the board of regents, and the senate. MUNFA wants a paragraph added to their collective agreement asserting their right to participate in key decisions.

The university said it's open to giving the faculty association a dedicated seat on one of the school's two governing bodies, but that sign-off has to come from the province.

"Faculty members are currently involved in all aspects of academic matters including the hiring of all academic staff from their peers to senior leaders," reads a statement from the university. "Additionally, the university has requested that faculty representation be added to the board of regents when the provincial government updates the Memorial University Act."

In a statement to CBC News, the Education Department said the university and the faculty association have both asked the provincial government to review legislation that would change the governance and administration of the university.

"The province is pursuing amendments to the Memorial University Act that include the addition of faculty representation on the board. Other governance-related matters suggested by the university and the faculty association may be considered after the auditor general review of the university has concluded," the statement reads.

Neil Bose, the interim provost and academic vice-president, said talks stalled Sunday after the association submitted a proposal that included items the university couldn't budge on.

"We haven't been able to close that gap because it goes into areas where it's very difficult for the university to go," he said.

To cross or not to cross?

Despite the faculty association allowing students and staff to cross picket lines, Hossain took issue with the university sending guidance on how to do so.

"Nobody in a position of power like the administration should ever tell people to cross the line," he said.

Bose, meanwhile, said that wasn't the intention of the guidance sent to students.

"We're not forcing anyone to cross a picket line," he said. "That is the decision of the individual in each case. And in the case of students who don't wish to cross, there will have to be a discussion later."

Henrike Wilhelm/CBC

Bose said any "academic amnesty" has to be decided by MUN's senate after the strike is over but he thinks everyone would support the motion to excuse students for missing classes during the strike.

The expectation is different for staff, however.

"We expect all employees who are not on strike to come to work and take on their duties, of course. That's the normal expectation."

Students feel like 'pawns,' says MUNSU

Isabel Ojeda, an executive director with MUN's students' union, says they're calling for academic amnesty for all students.

Ojeda said she has made the decision not to cross, but understands students will feel pressure to continue their studies.

"I think this time around the university is absolutely trying to use students as pawns," she said.

Jawad Chowdury, also with the students' union, said he supports the faculty association on several issues — especially the idea of collegial governance. He said a lot of students understand why their professors want a greater say in decisions that will affect the future of the university.

"We understand what it feels like to be presented with a raw deal from this university," Chowdury said, referencing MUN's raise of tuition and fees in recent years, and the subsequent drop of undergraduate enrolment.

Chowdury, who has two courses that will be cancelled during the strike, said he's worried he will have to pick up extra courses next semester to graduate on time.

Strikes at two Atlantic universities tied to chronic underfunding: unions

Mon, January 30, 2023 



ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Leaders of faculty unions say ongoing strikes at two Atlantic Canadian universities are a sign of growing frustration among instructors and staff, driven by persistent underfunding of public post-secondary education in the region.

Members of the faculty association at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador spent Monday on the picket line, after a strike was called at midnight. Faculty at Cape Breton University walked off the job last week, and spent the day outside hoisting signs in support of their demands — and of their striking colleagues at Memorial.

Both associations represent professors, librarians and other faculty at their respective schools.

Josh Lepawsky, president-elect of Memorial's faculty association, said the strikes at both schools are a sign of a "long, chronic process of actively dismantling quality, public higher education."

"We all work at public universities that should be appropriately supported with public money," the geography professor said in an interview Monday. "And yet, we've all experienced chronic cuts to operating budgets."

Another education sector labour conflict looms in the region: in Halifax, faculty at Saint Mary's University could go on strike as early as Feb. 24.

About 800 faculty members at Memorial University's campuses in St. John's, Corner Brook and Labrador were on strike as of 12:01 a.m. Monday after negotiations with Memorial's administration stalled the day before.

The faculty association is looking for more say in university governance, including representation on the school's board of regents. They are also seeking improved job security for the school's contract employees, who Lepawsky said must reapply for their positions every four or eight months when their contracts end.

The university administration says the union is refusing its offer of a 12 per cent wage increase over four years and instead demanding 14 per cent over the same period. The school says its offer would translate to a salary of $164,084 by 2026 for the average tenured professor currently making $137,300.

In a news release Sunday, the university said it has taken steps to include faculty representation on the board of regents.

"We value our faculty highly," Neil Bose, interim provost and vice-president academic, said in the release. "We encourage (Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association) to come back to the negotiating table so that we can minimize disruption for students."

In Cape Breton, about 200 striking faculty members are seeking pay raises to deal with the soaring cost of living. The administration says the union is seeking a 14 per cent raise over the next two years. The university has offered wage increases of eight per cent over three years, in addition to existing annual step increases.

Rod Nicholls, a member of the school’s bargaining team, said Monday the offer is comparable to what teachers make at other universities in Nova Scotia.

“We have distinctive challenges as a regional university located in Cape Breton. There’s an ambitious expansion of programs that are in demand,” Nicholls said, noting that the university is planning to create a department of social work and a medical school.

Heather Sparling, a music professor and spokeswoman for the Cape Breton University Faculty Association, said the school's offer is not enough. "They are offering us less than inflation, and so for us that’s a loss — that’s a pay cut — and at the same time the university has increased its population very significantly," Sparling said in an interview.

She, too, sees common threads in the Cape Breton and Newfoundland and Labrador disputes. “I think there is a general effort by universities to limit the salaries of faculty in this region. And there’s a general sense of frustration and disrespect there as well."

Meanwhile, Memorial's student union says it stands behind striking faculty. "I think students are definitely stressed, they're anxious, but overall, we have seen an overwhelming amount of support for faculty," said Isabel Ojeda, the union's director of campaigns.

The strike at Memorial comes after the school substantially hiked tuition rates in 2022, more than doubling tuition for new students from Newfoundland and Labrador.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 30, 2023.

— With files from Michael Tutton in Halifax.

Sarah Smellie, The Canadian Press