As students at Dalhousie University settle into their dorms and prepare for the fall semester, many are unsure of what’s to come for the rest of the term. Classes are supposed to start on Tuesday, but most have been cancelled due to a strike.
Members of the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) have been off the job since Aug. 20 after being locked out by the university when the two sides were not able to reach an agreement on a new contract.
The union representing nearly 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and professional counsellors then went on strike two days later.
“I have a lot of international friends and they’ve travelled from all over the world and their semester has just been totally screwed by this,” said Andrew Collin, a first-year science student.
He said he stands with the professors.
“I just want to learn,” he said.
The union has said recent collective agreements have not kept up with inflation, and its wage proposal is to make up for lost ground. Other issues include expanded parental leave benefits and flexible class scheduling policies.
The university has offered two per cent increases for each year of a three-year contract. The faculty association’s last proposal was for increases of 3.75 per cent, 4.75 per cent and 5.75 per cent over three years.
Yousef Al-Karrain, a first-year student, heard about the strike two weeks ago and wasn’t concerned. He thought things would be resolved by the time he moved to Halifax. His feelings have changed.
“I’m pretty upset about it. I prefer that we start as soon as possible,” said Al-Karrain. “I’m paying for this. I’m here and I’m ready to go.”
Al-Karrain is contemplating whether to go back home to Moncton, N.B., for the time being.
“I’m not going to get to start school when everybody else does. I’m not going to be able to get as much as I can out of university,” he said.
Largest Atlantic Canadian university
As the largest university in Atlantic Canada, Dalhousie welcomed nearly 15,000 full-time undergraduates last year and more than 4,000 graduate students.
This isn’t the only labour issue at the university.
Last week, the union representing part-time instructors and teaching assistants voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike mandate. CUPE Local 3912 will return to the bargaining table for conciliation with Dalhousie on Oct. 2.
For Walid Umaru, the situation is unsettling.
“You’re not sure if the classes are going to start or if it’s going to go on,” said Umaru, an international graduate student from Egypt and Nigeria.
He said only one of his classes will start on time, but his main worry is the lack of communication with his supervisor, whom he hasn’t been able to reach.
Umaru said Dalhousie has been fairly good at communicating with its students, but Savannah Burden, a first-year student from Newfoundland, disagrees with that.
“It was very concerning because we weren’t sure if we were supposed to move in. No one really knew what was going on,” said Burden. “The communication from Dal at least wasn’t very good. A lot of stuff is still up in the air even now.”
