Members of the Dalhousie Faculty Association who were locked out earlier this week have voted strongly to reject a contract offer from the university’s board of governors, less than two weeks before the start of the school’s fall term.
In a news release on Friday, the union said that 82.7 per cent of voters voted to reject the Aug. 11 offer from the school, which offered two per cent increases in salary for each of the next three years.
Ninety-three per cent of the union’s 981 members participated in the vote, which concluded at 4 p.m. Thursday.
The faculty association’s last proposal sought increases of 3.75 per cent, 4.75 per cent and 5.75 per cent over three years. The previous collective agreement expired on June 30.
“This sends a clear message that the DFA members are willing to stay the course,” president Dave Westwood said in the news release.
“Spirits among our picketers is sky high, and support from other faculty associations and unions is strong. It’s time for the board to come back to the table with something that our members can seriously consider.”
The union has said wage increases have not kept pace with inflation in the last decade. The university has argued Dalhousie is facing financial challenges and its compensation is in the mid-range when compared to other large Canadian universities.
The average annual salary for full-time teaching staff at Dalhousie last year was $159,350, according to Statistics Canada, with full professors earning the most. Eighty per cent of teaching staff earned between $110,000 and $213,550.
Members of the Dalhousie Faculty Association, which includes nearly 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and professional counsellors, have been locked out by Dalhousie since 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
At that time, the faculty association countered with a 48-hour strike notice. The strike began on Friday at 9:30 a.m.
Westwood has previously said the union never intended to strike in August as students were about to return, and the intent of the “defensive strike” is to wrest some control from Dalhousie so it simply can’t “flip a switch” and suddenly dictate that faculty return to work.
“The entire fall semester has now been thrown into utter and complete chaos,” he said in an interview with CBC News. “Nobody knows what’s going to happen. It’s unclear when and if the fall semester will get underway.”
In a statement issued to the university community announcing the school’s intention to lock out faculty association members on Monday, Dalhousie president Kim Brooks said a labour disruption had become inevitable.
“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.”
Early-career professors struggle, says faculty member
Hannah Harrison, a professor with the marine affairs program, spoke at a faculty association rally on Friday afternoon outside Killam Memorial Library.
She said professors in the early stages of their career often struggle because they are on the lower end of the salary scale and usually have considerable costs to cover.
In an interview with CBC News, she said she started working at Dalhousie in 2022 and is now on track to get her tenure.
She said professors usually have obtained multiple degrees to work, involving a large amount of debt, which affects their quality of life and future goals.
“It takes 12, 15 years of training … it also means people postpone having children, postpone getting married, postpone some of those really important, big life milestones,” said Harrison. “We hope to be able to enjoy a salary that reflects some of those lost years.”
