Dalhousie Faculty Association shares university’s new offer with members

The Dalhousie Faculty Association is looking at a new offer from the university as a lockout enters its fourth week.

The Dalhousie Faculty Association says it has shared its university’s new offer to end a lockout with its members.

The Dalhousie University board of governors says it sent a new offer to the union’s leadership on Wednesday. The university locked out nearly 1,000 Association members on Aug. 20 following months of negotiations to strike a new collective agreement.

University president Kim Brooks did not provide details on the new offer, but she said it represented an increase over their previous proposal of a six per cent wage raise over three years.

“The new offer, therefore, has an increased cost,” Brooks said in a letter. “It will require additional trade-offs and difficult conversations across the university as we work towards a balanced budget.”

The union is seeking a wage increase of 14.25 per cent over three years, along with expanded parental leave benefits and expanded access to child care.

In a written statement, the Association said it would hold two meetings with its members on Thursday to provide an update on the bargaining process.

“While this latest offer was not made through the proper channels, and did not reflect the full breadth of discussions that had taken place between the two sides, we nevertheless decided to share it with our members,” said Dave Westwood, union president, in the statement. “We also shared the DFA proposal to show how much progress was actually being made during conciliation earlier this week.

“We have invited the Board to continue those productive discussions this morning at 9:00 but have not received any response. I have to seriously question their statements about wanting to end the lockout because that requires continuing negotiations, not presenting yet another ultimatum.”

The university issued the new offer after two days of meetings at the request of a provincially-appointed conciliator. No further conciliation meetings have been scheduled.

The Association claims the university has saved $8-to-$10 million by not paying faculty during the three-week lockout.

“The Board has created a huge mess by choosing a lockout when they did, and they continue to act as though there is no problem, or that it is somehow the union’s fault that they have acted irrationally and ignored all the advice we have offered them,” Westwood said.

Last month, the Association filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour over the university’s use of public messages to bargain directly with members.

Future of the semester

Dalhousie’s fall semester officially started on Sept. 2, but all courses taught by Association members have been suspended due to the lockout.

The Association says members would need at least 10 days to get classes and laboratories ready if a deal is made.

“Even if we reached a deal this afternoon, which we won’t, but even if we could, there’s at least a week, if not two weeks of preparation time required by our members to get back in the classroom,” said Westwood.

Wanda M. Costen, provost and vice-president academic for Dalhousie, said the tuition and fee deadline will be extended, and the honours application deadline will also be extended by at least 10 days after classes start.

Costen noted the fall break in November, along with the December study days and exam schedule, might be adjusted.

“I’m not a huge fan of it. We obviously need to get back to class and get a full course load. But I think if we’re missing our fall break... that’s more time away from family and friends,” said student James Riopelle.

“There is a lot of people that are from further away and those reading breaks are really the only time they get to see their families. So, it is kind of frustrating that that’s going to be taken away from them,” said student Madi Lowther.

Westwood says he believes the board is trying to signal that the lockout is almost over.

“The administration has been speaking to students as though everything is sort of almost finished and we’re almost back to classes, as though somehow maybe it could start tomorrow or Monday. It’s just not going to happen. And I think they need to stop sending that messaging. It’s misleading and confusing to students,” he said.

“There’s still work to be done. There’s still time before the classes are going to get underway, and the students shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense of security. This isn’t finished yet.”

On Wednesday the Dalhousie Student Union held a rally calling for tuition refunds due to the lockout.

“We’re in a position where we’re paying for classes that aren’t happening and expected to pay the full amount and so we were rallying specifically to ask that there be compensation for tuition,” said Dalhousie Student Union president Maren Mealey.

-With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Vanessa Wright

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page