Latest news with #universitystrike
CBC
3 days ago
- Business
- CBC
Uncertainty remains as Dalhousie, union fail to reach contract agreement
Uncertainty remains about the start of the school year at Dalhousie University as the board of governors and the Dalhousie Faculty Association failed to reach a contract agreement during negotiation and conciliation efforts. The collective agreement for nearly 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and professional counsellors at Nova Scotia's largest university expired on June 30. A last-ditch conciliation meeting was held Monday, but failed to see a resolution. The union will now bring the university's final offer to its membership for a vote. That vote will end on Aug. 21 at the earliest, though the deadline could be extended in order to give members more time to cast a ballot, said Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) president David Westwood. Either side must give 48 hours of notice before a strike or lockout begins. Westwood told CBC News in an email Tuesday that the DFA was assured a lockout would not occur this week, and the union says it will not call a strike in August. Classes are scheduled to begin on Sept. 2. Compensation key sticking point The two sides have reached an impasse over several key issues — most notably, compensation. The board has offered two per cent increases each year for three years, while the most recent union proposal has requested a seven per cent increase in the first year of the agreement and four per cent increases in each of the following two years. "The final offer is far below what we find acceptable in many ways, not just the fact that the cost of living adjustment is far below recent settlements in our sector," Westwood said in the statement. In an open letter to the DFA published Monday, university president Kim Brooks said the final offer "tries to balance fair compensation for faculty with our responsibility to ensure Dalhousie's long-term financial health." The statement says while the board's proposed wage increases are in line with current inflation rates, the university acknowledges they do not reflect the higher inflation rates of previous years. "We truly wish we could offer more," reads the letter. "Our priority with this offer is to protect core academic activity and minimize further significant layoffs in the years ahead. This is the most we can responsibly commit to at this time." The university recently passed an operating budget with a $20-million deficit for the coming year and has already told all faculties and units to reduce their budgets by one per cent and absorb any compensation increases. Proposed teaching rule change withdrawn Job security was another issue of concern to the faculty association, but the board withdrew a proposal that the union had objected to. The board wanted to change a clause that governs what percentage of teaching work must be done by DFA members rather than by sessional workers or administrators. Sessional workers are paid less and do not have the job security that DFA members have. Under the collective agreement that just expired, 90 per cent of teaching work must be done by DFA members, but the board wanted to reduce that to as low as 80 per cent. That proposal is no longer on the table. "We continue to believe Dalhousie must reimagine academic staffing models to meet changing needs, but it is in our collective best interests to face our current challenges together," reads the letter from Brooks. Last month, 85 per cent of eligible DFA members participated in a strike vote, with 91 per cent of those who cast a ballot voting in favour of a strike if an agreement is not reached. MORE TOP STORIES
Telegraph
20-06-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
University staff walk out over calls to return to the office three days a week
More than 300 university workers will go on strike on Friday over demands to return to the office three days a week. University of Liverpool employees – who receive a guaranteed, inflation-linked pension for life, along with a generous tax-free lump sum – will walk out on Friday and Saturday to coincide with the university's open days. Members of the Unite union accused the university's leadership of 'riding roughshod' over the 'well-being and personal lives' of staff members. Current rules dictate that employees in administrative roles must come into work two days a week, but bosses are demanding staff attend in-person for three days. A University of Liverpool spokesman said the new requirement for staff to be in attendance 60pc of the working week is 'intended to strike the right balance as a face-to-face higher education provider'. They added: 'It will both enhance the experience of campus for our students and improve the impact colleagues have in their roles by spending more time together, whilst retaining the benefits and positives which staff value about working remotely.' But the changes have come in for criticism from the 340 staff members poised to walk out on Friday. One staff member said: 'It takes me 15 minutes on the train, but 45 minutes walking to get to campus. Now I'm hybrid working, I have to carry a backpack with all my work gear which can weigh up to 10kg due to laptop, headphones, lunch and anything else required for a day away from home. 'By the time I've finished two days on campus, I am so tired physically and mentally that I'm good for nothing the following day.' Unite said university managers have begun scheduling more in-person meetings ahead of the rule change. Unite regional officer, Sam Marshall, said: ' Strike action will cause huge disruption across the university campus, but this is entirely the fault of university management which has refused to listen to its workers and openly negotiate. 'The University of Liverpool leadership can stop the planned industrial action by being willing to negotiate in good faith.' Industrial action in Liverpool comes after staff in Edinburgh walked out this month. They went on strike amid disputes over senior management's plans to cut £140m from the university's annual budget, and its refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies. As university employees go on strike, students are being saddled with ever-increasing debt after finishing their degrees. Figures from the Student Loans Company show loan balances were £5,000 higher in 2024-25 than the year before, with the average coming in at £53,000. Strikes from university staff come after civil servants threatened to not to work over new rules demanding more in-office working. Civil Service heads of department have reiterated a minimum office working threshold of 60pc for officials, with senior managers expected to exceed this amount. The so-called '60:40 rule' was introduced by the Conservative government in November 2023 and, at the time, was opposed by unions. The Labour government indicated it might change the policy when it came to office in July, but has stuck with it. The University of Liverpool said 'individual adjustments can be made where necessary' for staff members with personal circumstances which hinder a 60:40 model. A spokesman said: 'Formal consultation with our recognised trade unions has taken place in line with our agreed procedures and, while agreement was not reached, dialogue has been maintained to try to resolve the remaining areas of concern raised.'
