Bargaining between the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA) and Acadia’s Board of Governors began in March 2017. By the end of June, the Board stopped bargaining. They refused to respond to AUFA’s most important proposals, forcing the association to file for conciliation.
The Board’s continued refusal to offer meaningful counter proposals on faculty demands for full-time position complement, provision of childcare, improved pay equity, parity for instructors, and regional averages on salaries led to an impasse on the first day of conciliation. AUFA members subsequently voted 81% in favour of strike action.
Subsequent meetings with the provincial conciliator have produced no counter proposals from the Board, forcing the Faculty Association to declare a strike deadline of November 27th.
There is still time for the Board to avert a strike and commit to a fair and equitable agreement, but the Board’s team will have to negotiate if that is to happen. The Faculty Association is committed to getting a fair agreement that benefits Acadia and its students. But we cannot negotiate with ourselves.
You can help us by taking action: by clicking on the button below you will generate an editable email to the Acadia’s President, its Vice-President Academic, and the Chair of Acadia’s Board of Governors, telling them to get back to the table and negotiate a fair and equitable agreement. Thank you for your support!
Click here to go to the Faculty website and generate that editable email. Or cut and paste the following text, and email to peter.ricketts@acadiau.ca, heather.hemming@acadiau.ca, jrogers@stewartmckelvey.com
Dr. Peter Ricketts, Dr. Heather Hemming, and Mr. John Rogers:
As of November 27th, Faculty at Acadia University will be on strike. You have very little time to avoid this outcome. It is essential that Acadia’s Board of Governors and administration take steps immediately to return to the bargaining table to reach a fair and just settlement with the Acadia University Faculty Association.
Acadia faculty have made significant sacrifices to help the university recover from a significant financial crisis. Faculty helped in this recovery by agreeing to temporarily suspend tenure-stream complement, taking on significantly higher workloads due to their diminished numbers and Acadia’s increased reliance on precarious workers. They helped the university out of a significant pension liability by agreeing to shift from a defined benefit plan to a targeted benefit plan. They helped by settling for increases below regional norms in salaries.
The end result of faculty members’ collective sacrifices is that the university is now on a ‘sound financial footing’, to quote Acadia’s new president, Dr. Peter Ricketts. It is, therefore, time for the Board to acknowledge the sacrifices that Acadia faculty have made to preserve the university’s reputation for high-quality education and research while restoring its financial integrity. It can do so by negotiating a fair collective agreement that respects the essential academic contributions that its faculty make and earns its reputation as a good place to work.
Faculty at Acadia have sacrificed enough.
I ask that you direct your team to agree to a settlement that:
1. Re-establishes a reasonable full-time faculty complement that protects the academic integrity of the university
2. Continues to support the principles of pay equity through active pay equity provisions
3. Brings Acadia faculty to regional averages on salaries
4. Establishes a feasibility study and commitment to fundraise for a campus childcare centre
5. Addresses parity for instructors on sabbatical and grid structure
I support members of the Acadia University Faculty Association, and ask that you return to the table and negotiate a fair collective agreement that avoids a strike.
Sincerely,
