The strike at the University of Lethbridge, Alberta is entering its fourth week as faculty members accuse the university of not negotiating in good faith.Todd Color / Globe and Mail
A series of teacher strikes have complicated negotiations with professors who are fed up with pandemic working conditions and what they call lack of respect from employers, due to rising inflation and mandatory state wages. , Hit a university in Canada.
The strikes are now mostly resolved and classes at some institutions have been closed, just as students returned directly to lectures. Further confusion can arise as some negotiations are ahead, including a boiling controversy in Ontario’s college department.
The strike at the University of Lethbridge enters its fourth week as faculty members accuse the university of not negotiating in good faith. The month-long strike at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia ended this week after both sides agreed to a binding arbitration. Faculty members at Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario also went on strike for about 10 days in February, Concordia University in Edmonton went on strike for 10 days in January, and the five-week strike at the University of Manitoba was resolved in December. did.
Some of the pandemic damage and its economic side effects play an important role in shaping labor negotiations. Inflation has risen above 5% last month. This means that employees are beginning to feel that their profits are declining due to increased food and fuel costs. Universities are facing pressure to minimize salary increases as part of the broader public sector.
Teachers also say they are tired and frustrated with the two-year pandemic working conditions. They are willing to accept wage increases that are less than inflation, but are demanding concessions elsewhere to make up for it.
For example, in Lethbridge, the faculty association said the university proposed a two-year wage freeze, followed by a little over 1% increase in contracts in the third and fourth years. Joy Morris, a math professor and spokesman for the undergraduate association, said the faculty is realistic about pay raises, but hopes to improve working conditions and workload.
“We are being asked to do more with less effort,” said Professor Morris.
University governments say they are trying to strike a balance between affordability for students and rising costs for faculty. This is an increase of more than 30% over the last 10 years.
For students, strikes are a frustrating coder for two years of online and face-to-face seesaw lessons. Some people feel fooled by the college experience they wanted, and the strike presents another unwelcome obstacle.
“Students want professors to stay in their institution and make fair deals, but having to put classes on hold is frustrating,” said Holly Kretke of the Lethbridge Students’ Union. The chairman said.
According to Brenda Austin Smith, a professor at the University of Manitoba and president of the Canadian University Teachers Association, it is the first time in recent memory that so many university strikes have occurred in such a short period of time.
Professor Austin Smith said there are several other universities that have agreements that will expire in the coming months, which can be difficult to negotiate. At her college, her recent strike was her second in just five years.
Last week, the court awarded the University of Michigan Faculty Association more than $ 19 million in a groundbreaking court settlement after the state government was found to have interfered with the negotiations during the 2016 contract negotiations.
Professor Austin Smith said many faculty associations are angry with the erosion of co-government, which is the idea that faculties and managers should work together on the operation of the university. She also said that state governments are increasingly trying to intervene in college and college activities.
“The concern is that there is a hollowing out of this collegial governance space, where the subject matter expert, the pedagogical expert, has a say in how things are done.” She said.
In Ontario, researchers at 24 of the state’s universities have been working on a form of strike for the past few months. Classes continue, but staff are sticking to the employment contract.
Wages were not a major issue, as the state’s public sector wage law cap has increased by about 1%. But the workload is controversial. The final offer was rejected by the faculty of 16,000 members, and the union said negotiations were stalled.
JP Hornick, a professor at George Brown University and chair of the faculty negotiation team, said: “We are approaching a crisis.”
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