1. What is a strike?
A strike is the legal act of ceasing work during contract negotiations to pressure the Employer to agree to employees’ demands in collective bargaining. Typically, this is paired with employees picketing.
It is constitutionally protected under The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (s. 2(d)).
2. What is a lockout?
A lockout is a situation where an employer temporarily closes a workplace or suspends work to pressure employees to accept specific employment terms: equally importantly the employer stops paying the workers. It’s a form of employer-driven leverage in labour disputes.
3. If there’s a strike or a lockout what activities will be interrupted?
All in-person and online classes taught by all PT faculty members will be cancelled;
Access to course materials, tests, grading, and communication with students on academic matters will be cancelled;
4. How do I stop working?
As a hard and fast rule for teachers on strike, students should not be learning anything you would teach during the duration of the strike.
This means that:
Students can work on projects they have already been assigned, but you should not assist them with their projects during a strike.
Students can study material that’s already been taught, but you should not provide them with new material (recorded lectures, assignments, etc.) intended to be taught during the period a strike occurs.
You should not hand back graded assignments during a strike.
We also ask that instructors (CUPE 3912 members or not) be considerate of their students and not test them at a later date on content that they were not able to learn during a strike.
5. Should I assign work to students during the strike?
No. All teaching activities including instruction, assessment, and course development should stop for the duration of the strike or lockout.
6. Should I advise students during a strike?
No. Advising students is part of your regular work and should cease for the duration of a strike or lockout.
7. Can I hold office hours from home or another location during the strike?
No. Holding office hours from home is part of your regular work and should cease for the duration of a strike or lockout.
8. Do I need to remove all of my content from Brightspace/Moodle?
You do not need to remove course content from Brightspace. You should however adjust your course(s) so that upcoming content is not released automatically. You should also not upload any new content during the strike, or make visible upcoming lectures or assessments.
9. How can students keep their studies moving forward?
Students should treat the temporary cessation of classes like a “working study break” and continue reading, studying, learning, writing papers, etc. that have already been assigned.
10. What are strike duties?
For most members, strike duties will be picketing. Other strike duties include tasks such as working in strike headquarters, driving, planning in-person and virtual rallies and social events, communications work, and sign-making.
These duties are assigned to you by the Strike Committee.
11. Where will I be picketing?
Picket locations and schedules are being developed. Your strike committee will contact you. Please contact your VP to provide an alternate email if you haven’t already done so.
12. What is picketing?
Picketing is protesting outside the workplace in support of the union’s demands.
13. Who can picket?
While pickets are primarily composed of union members on strike, anyone can join a picket. Only union members on strike, however, are eligible for strike pay.
14. What does it mean to “cross the picket line?”
“Crossing the picket line” is exactly as it sounds–walking past the workers blocking off an area to fight for a better deal. For example, if a picket line is surrounding a building and you enter the building anyway, you are crossing the picket line.
Though this might seem small, not standing with your fellow union members and continuing to work during a strike undermines our position and can cause either the strike to last longer or the final deal to be less than we’re asking for.
In addition, you will not be paid for performing work while on strike, which means you’re wasting your own time and effort.
15. Is updating Brightspace crossing the line?
Yes.
16. Is emailing your students crossing the line?
Yes.
17. Is releasing things early, so your students can work on them, crossing the line?
Yes.
If you’re not withdrawing your full labour from all your contractual obligations in relation to your work as PT Faculty that is crossing the line.
Don’t do anything. Drop your tools. Drop your laptop. Drop your mouse. Drop your phone. Close the tab. Close the browser. Just be on strike with all of us. This is what we need to do and it’s the only way we’re going to fight collectively to get a fair deal. We need everyone on board for it to happen.
18. What is a “replacement worker”?
A replacement worker is an individual who crosses the picket line to do their own work or the work of another striking union employee. These individuals are unhelpful and destructive to the union’s efforts to better our working conditions.
19. What can I do if my supervisor is pressuring me to be a replacement worker?
Immediately contact your VP. You will be guided on the appropriate actions to take in order to exercise your right to strike. Impeding a member from striking is illegal and can have repercussions for the impedor.
Section 53(3)(f) of the Nova Scotia Trade Union Act
20. Will the Employer pay me on strike?
The Employer will stop pay for all union members on strike regardless of whether you participate in the strike or not. This pay can, however, be replaced with strike pay if you complete strike duties.
21. Most of my work is completed at the beginning of my contract, but I am paid equally throughout the semester. Will I receive my full pay?
The strike does not affect your entitlement to payment for work you performed before the strike—the Employer is required to pay for such work in any event.
If you find yourself in a situation where the Employer is not paying you for work already performed before the strike began, please contact your VP.
22. My supervisor says they are saving my work until after the strike. Will I get paid for completing it?
All work performed after the end of the strike will be paid as per the return to work terms negotiated between us and the Employer.
23. Will I be paid the rest of my contract when the strike ends?
The terms of returning to work will be negotiated between us and the Employer during discussions to end the strike. We (CUPE 3912 members) may collectively and democratically decide not to go back to work unless the Employer pays out the rest of our contracts
24. What is strike pay?
Strike pay is a replacement source of income for union members on strike. It’s primarily paid for by union dues that are collected from your paycheck and is completely tax free. You can think of it as employment insurance for striking.
Our strike pay comes from CUPE National, the head organization of all CUPE locals in Canada.
25. How do I collect strike pay?
Typically, CUPE unions require 20 hours/week of picketing or other union activities to qualify for strike pay. However, when deemed appropriate by the Strike Benefits Committee, and when approved by the National Secretary-Treasurer, schedule and hours of picketing can be designed differently to reflect the workplace and/or accommodate a member or group of members.. A member on strike can picket for as long as they want, but can only earn strike pay for up to a total of 20 hours per week.
Strike pay will be issued by cheque and paid out weekly (after the first full week). Local folks receiving strike pay will be able to pick up their cheques at the headquarters office. Members teaching online who do not reside locally (within driving distance: ~1hr) will receive their cheques by mail.
26. Does the amount of my strike pay depend on the number of hours in my contract?
No. As long as you perform 20 hours of strike duties per week, you are eligible to the same amount of strike pay regardless of whether your contract is for 1 or more courses, labs or recitations if you are PT Faculty or for 1 hour or 10 hours per week if you are a TA.
27. Can the Employer fire or punish me for striking?
The Employer cannot legally fire or punish you for picketing or performing any other union activities.
Section 53(3)(a) and Section 53(3)(f) of the Nova Scotia Trade Union Act
28. When do we go on strike?
Dalhousie will be in a legal strike position on Oct. 21, MSVU on Oct. 22 and SMU on Oct 23. Please provide an alternate email address to your VP if you haven’t done so already and check it regularly for any updates.
29. Will there be accessibility accommodations made during the strike or at the picket line?
Our goal is to ensure your accessibility needs are cared for. We will be providing common types of accommodations during picketing. If you need an accommodation, reach out to your Strike Committee to discuss options that are not physically picketing.
30. Why do I have to strike when I did not vote for a Strike Mandate?
We are fighting for all Part-Time Academics regardless of how long they have been working. The collective agreement we eventually reach will benefit everyone in the union, regardless of the length of their employment, or how they voted.
31. Will I still be able to access my email?
Part-Time Academics who are not students should prepare to be locked out of their email, Brightspace, Moodle, and OneDrive for the duration of the strike. Students should not lose email access, but if you do, please contact your VP.
32. I work a non-CUPE 3912 staff position at the university too. What does that mean during a strike?
Positions that are not part of our union will continue running as normal. This means you might be asked to keep working, but you are not required to cross the picket line during the strike. If you don’t feel comfortable crossing the picket lines, contact your union to discuss your options..
33. How do I know when to return to work once the strike is over?
Once a fair deal is reached and approved by member vote, the bargaining committee will negotiate the specific terms of our return to work. They will communicate to the membership the exact date of our return and provide more information on what the rest of the term will look like.
There will likely be a brief window for you to revise your course schedule and/or requirements. At this point, it will be safe for you to contact your students, especially to communicate any changes to the syllabus in anticipation of the return to classes.