The CUPE 3912 – MSVU Bargaining Committee met with the Mount’s Representatives on Monday January 9, and on Thursday January 12. We had the assistance of a Conciliation Officer appointed by the Nova Scotia Minister of Labour.
On Monday January 9, we exchanged proposals on non-monetary matters and did not address financial items.
On Thursday January 12, substantial progress was made on the non-monetary items, and financial proposals were exchanged.
The Union’s proposal can be characterized as the equivalent of the new CUPE 3912 – Dalhousie University Agreement.
The Union’s financial proposal was a cumulative ~17% increase over 4 years.
| Step | Sept 1 20 | Sept 1 21 | Sept 1 22 | Sept 1 23 |
| 1 | 5282 | 5361 | 6349 | 6539 |
| 2 | 5876 | 5964 | 6349 | 6539 |
| 3 | 6307 | 6402 | 7042 | 7252 |
The employer’s financial proposal below was a cumulative ~10% increase over 4 years.
| Step | Sept 1 20 | Sept 1 21 | Sept 1 22 | Sept 1 23 |
| 1 | 5256 | 5322 | 5634 | 5747 |
| 2 | 5847 | 5920 | 6247 | 6372 |
| 3 | 6276 | 6355 | 6693 | 6827 |
Our Thursday January 12 meeting did not conclude with an agreement on financial proposals. The Conciliation Officer will now file his report with the Minister of Labour (possibly on February 6).
We expect to meet with the employer and Conciliation Officer again on February 16. The employer by then may have a different perspective regarding the Union’s proposal.
There is now a CUPE 3912 – SMU Tentative Agreement based in part on “Dalhousie Dollars”. Our CUPE 3912 message now evolves to “Parity between MSVU and SMU members”.
The Mount’s financial proposal is not even close to what our Dalhousie members won after a 24 day strike. We strongly reiterated that for an agreement the Mount has to provide the same percentages and lump sum increases as obtained in the Dalhousie agreement, since that is clearly why the membership provided a 95% YES vote for a Strike Mandate.
It appears that the Mount does NOT believe your YES vote is a serious message to the Employer.
The conclusion of your Bargaining Committee is that the Board of Governors believes that we will not strike for a fair and just financial package.
The Mount works when we work. Parity in rates between MSVU, SMU and Dal.
We must now work together to show our employer we are serious about our demands. This is the only way to avoid the disruptions of a strike.
Contact us now to help our “Strike Avert” campaign. We need people to post signage, contact media, plan picketing and protests, sign up members for strike pay. Volunteer some time in January – February with CUPE 3912.
Avoid a strike, by planning to have one. To volunteer, please contact us.
More information will be forthcoming soon.
You can contact any member of the bargaining committee at:
Cameron Ells (President CUPE 3912)
Don McIver (Vice-President for Part-time Instructors CUPE 3912)
Jessica Boyd
Alex Mielnik