Saint Mary’s University part-time faculty go on strike after final conciliation meeting

Part-time faculty at Saint Mary’s University and Mount Saint Vincent University are on strike.

For the second time this week, a Nova Scotia university’s part-time faculty is going on strike following failed negotiations to reach a new collective agreement.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3912 announced its members from Saint Mary’s will officially go on strike Thursday.

The union represents roughly 150 part-time instructors at Saint Mary’s. In September its members voted 87 per cent in favour of a strike following nearly a year of negotiations.

“Unfortunately it cancelled one of my classes so it’s going to set us behind in material. I’m being patient but if it lasts too long it will affect my studies,” said Yahya Shuly, a student at Saint Mary’s.

Members are asking for improved stipends and proposals on faculty appointments and contract timelines. They are also seeking guaranteed work for instructors who have taught with the university for at least three consecutive years.

“Our work conditions are students learning conditions. As much as it is a speedbump for them, really through the course of our negotiations all we’ve got are ‘no’s’,” said a faculty member at Saint Mary’s.

The university says dozens of courses have been paused due to the strike, but classes taught by full-time faculty members will continue as scheduled.

“Full-time faculty are not permitted to take on the work of striking, part-time faculty, as they are members of different unions under different collective agreements,” the university’s website reads.

On Wednesday, part-time faculty with Mount Saint Vincent University (who are also represented by CUPE 3912) went on strike.

They are calling for wage increases, reforms to the evaluation process and the removal of restrictions on members’ academic freedom to teach and assess.

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