Dalhousie University students calling for financial compensation after month-long lockout

Will Dalhousie University students get any financial compensation following a month-long lockout?

A month-long lockout may be over, but many Dalhousie University students are calling for financial compensation for lost class time in the fall semester.

On Wednesday, an overwhelming majority of voting members of the Dalhousie Faculty Association ratified a new three-year collective agreement with the university, bringing an end to a lockout that started on Aug. 20.

Both parties have been negotiating for a new deal since May. The association’s previous three-year agreement expired at the end of June.

The association – which represents nearly 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and counsellors – said its members will return to work on Thursday. Classes, which have been suspended since the fall semester began on Sept. 2, are set to start on Tuesday.

“The picket lines are gone and they are now in their homes and working hard to get their classes ready to start next week,” said Association president David Westwood. “There is a tremendous amount of work and preparation required.”

The new deal includes a wage increase of 10 per cent over three years. The union previously sought a 14.25 per cent increase over the same period of time. Last month the university had proposed a six per cent increase over three years, calling it their “final offer.”

Other parts of the new agreement include:

• parental leave top-up increased from 14 weeks to 35 weeks
• five days of paid leave for Indigenous faculty members to observe cultural or traditional days of importance
• sixteen positions that have been limited-term for six or more years will be converted to tenure stream/career stream positions
• salary changes between $1,500 and $5,000 for early career faculty who join Dalhousie at a rank other than full professor
• workload policies for each faculty

Student compensation

The Dalhousie Student Union, which voted to affirm its support for the association during the lockout earlier this month, is calling for financial compensation for students who lost class time due to the labour disruption.

“We are asking for compensation for classes directly proportional to the about of class time lost,” said Maren Mealey, president of the student union. “Around three weeks is what we’ve lost so far and that is 21 per cent if the semester, so we are asking for 21 per cent off of the semester.”

“This disruption has deprived us of the education we are paying for, leaving us with cancelled classes, lost instructional time, gaps in invaluable mentorship and mounting uncertainty about our academic futures,” an open letter from the student union reads.

According to the letter, every week of class roughly represents seven per cent of a semester’s instruction time.

“Proportional financial compensation to students for lost class time and instruction resulting from the lockout should be given to compensate students fairly,” the student union said in a social media post.

Due to the lockout, Dalhousie University said the final date to add or drop fall courses, as well as the tuition/fee deadline, has been moved to Oct. 7. The honours application date has also been moved to Oct. 22.

“Law school is very different than regular school,” said Rose Silvestru, a first-year law student. “I’ve already missed final exams and full classes at this stage.

“They also say that they are not going to issue refunds because they are still issuing the credits. This is not a diploma mill, we don’t pay money to get a degree. We pay money for the opportunity to earn a credit and earn it properly and learn the content that is being presented by experts in the field.”

The university said its senate will meet on Monday to discuss any possible changes to the fall break and December exam schedule.

-With files from CTV News Atlantic’s Emma Convey

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