Dalhousie union will not meet with university prior to Monday conciliation

Dalhousie Faculty Association and the board of governors will resume conciliations on Monday.

The Dalhousie Faculty Association has agreed to meet with the university’s board of governors on Monday, but it will not engage with the group prior to that date, saying they have engaged in “inappropriate and misleading” communications amid the two-week lockout.

On Thursday, Grace Jefferies, vice president of people and culture with Dalhousie, said the board of governors will resume talks with the union on Monday at the request of a provincially-appointed conciliator. Jefferies said they informed the union they were willing to meet with them before that date.

“Time is of the essence for our students, our faculty, and our entire Dalhousie community,” Jefferies said in a written statement. “If talks can be productive, and result in an outcome that allows our academic mission to resume in full, we see no reason to wait until Monday.”

In a separate statement, Dave Westwood, president of the Association, said the union will resume conciliation talks with the university at 9 a.m. on Monday, but they are declining to talk with any members of the board of governors before then, saying they can no longer trust their bargaining team to act in good faith.

“We are dealing with an unprofessional and unpredictable bargaining partner trying to undermine the collective bargaining process to sow division and confusion,” Westwood said. “The DFA Bargaining Team met again (Thursday) afternoon, and agreed that the only way to conclude a new collective agreement is at the bargaining table under the supervision of a conciliation officer.”

Jefferies also said Dalhousie sent a revised formal offer to the union on Tuesday which proposed interest arbitration for issues of wages and parental leave.

Westwood said he received the letter from Jefferies and called it a violation of bargaining protocols as neither of them are part of the bargaining teams.

“Communications of this kind violate the bargaining protocols jointly agreed by the DFA and Board,” he said. “We called an urgent meeting of the DFA Bargaining Team, and also contacted our conciliation officer; all bargaining proposals are to be exchanged at the bargaining table with both parties present.”

In August the union filed a complaint with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour over the university’s use of public messages to directly bargain with members.

In a written statement, the Department of Advanced Education encouraged both parties to return to the negotiation table.

“We understand the anxiety and uncertainty ongoing job action is causing students and the wider university community,” the statement reads. “We value the contributions of faculty members, instructors, librarians and counselors.”

However, students say they feel they are being used as a bargaining chip.

“When I arrived and there was a labor disruption and moreover, it was a lockout, the first of its kind in a U15 school, I felt betrayed,” said Rose Silivestru, a first-year law student. “I felt like I had given my future to Dalhousie, and I’d asked them to hold onto it for me, and they had put it on the table as a bargaining chip.”

Negotiations

The union and the board of governors has been negotiating for a new collective agreement since May. The Association’s previous three-year deal expired in June.

The union is seeking a 14.25 per cent wage increase over three years, expanded parental leave benefits, expanded access to child care and conversion of long-term limited-term appointments to career-stream appointments, among other things.

Dalhousie president Kim Brooks previously said their final offer to the union is a six per cent wage increase over three years, saying it was the “most we can responsibly commit to at this time.”

Following that final offer, the university locked out nearly 1,000 Association members on Aug. 20. The fall semester began on Tuesday, but many classes have been suspended due to the lockout.

The union held a rally outside the Killam Library in Halifax at noon on Friday in support of precarious workers.

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