1. Who are Part-Time Faculty?
Part-Time Faculty teach courses across Saint Mary’s University. If the person teaching your course is not a Full-Time Faculty member, they are likely Part-Time Faculty!
At Saint Mary’s University, Part-Time Faculty are unionized, and—as the result of a successful unionization campaign back in 1995—are part of CUPE 3912.
2. What are Part-Time Faculty bargaining for right now?
One of our big issues is fair pay. While Saint Mary’s University is ranked one of the top undergraduate-focused universities in Canada, contract staff receive some of the lowest pay in the country. Part-Time Faculty at SMU earn $1,533 less per course than Part-Time Faculty at Acadia, and $1,383 less than Part-Time Faculty at Saint Francis Xavier. This is a significant difference, and it adds up!
We also want to receive our contracts with enough time to get ready for the semester, and receive our contracts with time included for course prep. Currently, we do not receive contracts with time included for pre-term course preparation. Some Part-Time Faculty only find out they may or may not be teaching a course with a week’s notice—or less!
Another major issue for SMU Part-Time Faculty are increases to financial support—notably professional development, pension, and healthcare funds. All of these were in line with already-existing contracts for part-time faculty at other universities, and all were rejected by SMU. Part-Time Faculty have no pension, no healthcare funds, and very limited financial support for professional development.
To put it another way: unlike Part-Time Faculty at other universities, those at SMU do not have timelines for job postings, paths to full-time employment, a contract that includes pre-term prep time, or a pension—all with some of the lowest wages in the country!
3. What can I expect during a strike or a lockout?
If you are in a class taught by Part-Time Faculty:
- Your classes, labs, tutorials, and other academic sessions taught by SMU Part-Time Faculty will be affected. Part-Time Faculty are teaching 262 courses of all levels this Fall.
- You would not receive feedback on assignments
- If locked out—which is common—your instructor would not be checking or replying to any emails, and they would be unable to access their @smu.ca email addresses or their brightspace account
4. When and how will I know if there’s a strike?
The earliest we can strike is October 23rd, 2025. If a strike is called for October 23 (or later), you should be notified by SMU—keep in mind that the university is responsible for communicating with students, and CUPE 3912 does not have student email addresses to notify you. When a strike would end depends on what happens at the negotiating table.
We know that a strike negatively impacts students, and we have been trying to avoid a strike. However, after repeatedly refusing to give us more than a 1% increase on wages, real improvements on job security, and timelines on contracts…we don’t have other options. But you can help us avoid a strike and get a fair deal!
5. How can I support Part-Time Faculty?
Students can do a lot to help us fight for a fair contract! We really appreciate your support!
You can use our toolkit to send a letter to the President, Provost, Chair of the Board of Governors, and their Negotiating Team. You can also ask your friends to do the same—help us get the word out! Tell SMU how you really feel, and show them that Part-Timers matter.
We know SMU students are very involved in their communities, and we encourage any student associations you are part of to send a letter in support, as well.
Posting your support on social media also shows that students are paying attention and are in support of their instructors.
If you see Part-Time Faculty rallies and events, you are also welcome to attend in support! Introduce yourself as a student to someone wearing our hot-pink CUPE 3912 t-shirts and hats.
6. How can I keep up-to-date on what’s happening?
We will be posting updates regularly! Check out our website, https://cupe3912.ca/. You can also find us on Bluesky at @cupe3912.bsky.social, or Instagram @cupe3912.
You might be wondering why we have not emailed you—this is because CUPE 3912 cannot directly contact students at SMU.
7. How is bargaining going?
Part-Time Faculty have been bargaining since October 23, 2024. In a year of bargaining, we have not managed to secure our main demands around pay, benefits, job security, and course prep.
Other campus unions were offered at least a 3% increase for 2024 – 2025—but Part-Time Faculty were not. In pushing for more job security, SMU refused our offers. And, we were unable to secure a timeline for contract offers.
At the same time as we’ve been bargaining, SMU has been cutting courses. This means that following the summer cuts, approximately 20% of Part-Time Faculty are now out of work. This also means cuts to courses for students, making it harder to meet graduation timelines, and diminishing the number of course offerings.
To continue bargaining negotiations, CUPE 3912 filed for conciliation— which means meetings with SMU and a neutral person appointed by the government—on June 23. The first meeting was scheduled for September 11. After a few hours, it became clear SMU was not budging, so in line with provincial legislation, the conciliator filed a report with the Nova Scotia government.
So, with no other choice left, 87% of Part-Time Faculty currently teaching at SMU have now voted in favour of a strike mandate. We had hoped the threat of a strike might put pressure on the university to come to the table for a fair deal, but unfortunately, that is not the case.
8. How does bargaining impact me as a student?
Have you ever tried to sign up for a course, but it was too full? Maybe you noticed that there were fewer course options this fall? Or, you saw the news that SMU tried to cancel 56% of courses in Arts taught by Part-Time Faculty?
(When courses were cut in Arts over the summer, we fought for those—and won some courses back!)
If our contracts arrive late, we have less time to prepare our courses, and you might not be able to see a syllabus ahead of time. When instructors are overworked and underpaid, it is harder for us to dedicate ourselves to students as much as we’d like. Furthermore,if we don’t have job security, it impacts our ability to plan for the future—and to continue to improve our courses.
Our teaching conditions are your learning conditions.
More questions?
Please reach out! Email vp.smu@cupe3912.ca with your questions, and we’ll do our best to get back to you.