Dalhousie University says it will resume conciliation with union on Monday after two-week lockout

The Dalhousie University union will meet with the board of governors on Monday amid the ongoing lockout.

Dalhousie University’s board of governors says it will meet with the Dalhousie Faculty Association at the request of a provincially-appointed conciliator following a two-week lockout that has disrupted the start of the fall semester.

In a news release, Grace Jefferies, vice president of people and culture with Dalhousie, said the board of governors will resume conciliation with the union on Monday.

“We informed the DFA leadership that we are available to meet and work towards an agreement today (Thursday), tomorrow, or over the weekend,” Jefferies said. “Time is of the essence for our students, our faculty, and our entire Dalhousie community. 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.”

Dalhousie locked out the Association – which represents nearly 1,000 professors, librarians, instructors and professional counsellors – on Aug. 21 following a lengthy negotiating process over a new collective agreement that started in May.

The union’s previous collective agreement expired at the end of June.

Dalhousie’s fall semester officially began on Tuesday, but all classes taught by union members have been suspended due to the lockout.

The Association is seeking a total wage increase of 14.25 per cent over three years. The university’s final offer, which it issued a few days before the lockout, is a six per cent increase across three years.

The union’s other demands include expanded parental leave benefits and access to child care along with increased flexibility of class scheduling policies for caregiving responsibilities.

Last week, the board of governors offered interest arbitration to the union to end the lockout, but the Association rejected it, claiming the process would only focus on wages while ignoring their other demands.

The Association later filed a bargaining complaint with the Nova Scotia Department of Labour, calling on the labour minister to order the board of governors back to the bargaining table. At the time, Jefferies said the board did not feel a return to the table would be productive.

On Thursday, the board said it shared a revised formal offer with the Association that maintained its position on interest arbitration and addressed “all remaining non-monetary issues, including increasing parental leave and offering additional permanent positions.”

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