Professors at Nova Scotia’s five Universite Sainte-Anne campuses are on strike.
Members of the Association of Professors and Librarians walked off the job yesterday as labour negotiations for a new collective agreement are at a stand-still.
According to posts on their website, the association voted in favour of strike action last month if necessary, to show how serious they are about ‘achieving a more equitable agreement.’
The President and Vice-Chancellor of the university says the strike came as a surprise.
Allister Surette says staff are working on getting the process going again.
“There are many items on the table, and significant items on their side. We’re going to have to find a way to get them to prioritize some of their items, and get back to a process where we can truly negotiate,” says Surette.
He says there’s been no negotiation on monetary items, or the association’s concerns about their workload.
“It’s strange that they’ve declared this impasse, when we haven’t even negotiated half of the collective agreement. It is where it is, and we have to figure out with them how to move past this impasse for the better of our students.”
A conciliator was brought in earlier this year, but the association called off the process after six sessions, citing a lack of serious counter-proposals.
Surette says courses that are cancelled are ones offered by members of the association, some courses are continuing with lecturers.
He says it’s too early to say what options are on the table for students to complete the term.
We’ve reached out to the association for further comment.
Universite Sainte-Anne has campuses in Church Point, Halifax, Tusket, Petit-de-Gras and Saint-Joseph-du-Moine.
