Dalhousie University will lock out faculty association members beginning Wednesday morning, but the university says students should still plan to arrive on campus at the beginning of the fall term.
The university’s board of governors and the Dalhousie Faculty Association have been unable to reach a contract agreement through negotiations and conciliation over the past few months. The previous collective agreement expired on June 30.
The association represents nearly 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and professional counsellors at Nova Scotia’s largest university.
After the final conciliation meeting on Aug. 11, the union said it would bring the university’s final offer to its membership for a vote that would end on Aug. 21 at the earliest, though it said that deadline could be extended.
In a statement issued to the university community on Monday morning, Dalhousie president Kim Brooks said the lockout is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday unless a collective agreement is reached.
“There is still time to avoid a lockout, and I remain hopeful that we can reach an agreement,” the statement says.
Brooks asked DFA president David Westwood to conclude the voting period by the end of last week, but she has not received word of a completed vote, the statement says.
“The DFA leadership have been delaying efforts to resolve this matter before the fall term starts,” reads an update on the university’s website.
“The impasse is significant enough that a labour disruption has become inevitable,” the update says. “If so, it is better for the university for it to happen now, in August, instead of commencing after fall term classes begin, when the consequences for students would be much more severe.”
What the lockout means for fall term
Dalhousie campuses will remain open regardless of the labour situation, the university says, and students should plan to arrive for the fall term as usual. The fall term is scheduled to begin Sept. 2.
Residences and dining halls will be open and orientation activities will continue as planned.
All classes taught by DFA members will be suspended until the dispute is resolved. “This would impact most, but not all, classes at Dalhousie,” an FAQ on Dal’s website says.
If a resolution to the dispute is not reached before fall classes begin, the university says it plans to notify students about which courses will go ahead and which ones will be suspended.
The lockout would also affect some classes and programs at the University of King’s College, the FAQ says.
As for summer courses, the university says “contingency plans have been made for courses that are not complete,” and students will receive further information from their faculties.
The university is advising students to avoid making significant travel plans for the fall study break in November, as adjusting that break is one way Dal could address any lost class time due to a lockout.
Wages are key issue
The main sticking point in the negotiations has been wages. The university says it has offered a two per cent increase each year over the proposed contract’s three-year term.
The DFA’s most recent bargaining update says its most recent proposal included increases of 3.75 per cent, 4.75 per cent, and 5.75 per cent over the three years, for a total of 14.25 per cent.
According to Statistics Canada, the average salary of a full professor at Dalhousie is $194,275. The university says faculty compensation is comparable to other similar-sized universities.
A previous proposal by the board to reduce the percentage of teaching work at the university that is done by DFA members rather than by sessional workers or administrators was taken off the table during negotiations.
The labour impasse comes at a time when universities are struggling to balance their books. Provincial government funding has stagnated, and Nova Scotia universities were mandated this year to freeze tuition for some students.
To grapple with its $20-million operating budget deficit for the coming year, Dalhousie University has already told all faculties and units to reduce their budgets by one per cent and absorb any compensation increases.
