This is an update you on the vote regarding whether the strike is ending. 63 people voted in total with the following breakdown:
This means that members will return to work on Monday, March 23. We are finalizing the return to work agreement with NSCAD Administration this evening and will share more when it becomes available.
Thank you to all members who showed up on the picket line in person and online making this a successful strike!
As you may have seen, NSCAD has submitted an application to the labour board requesting arbitration. Let’s be clear: This move from the employer is a sign that our strike is working!
Despite claiming that we are “not essential to their business,” after only 4 days NSCAD is crying foul and looking for an off-ramp. They want the government to take over the process that they have refused to participate in. They are seeking to achieve through government action what they have been unable to get through bargaining. They want to break our union and for everyone to just sit down and return to work.
NSCAD’s decision to pursue arbitration is disappointing, but not surprising. Binding arbitration is a process by which both parties would allow the government to appoint a third-party arbitrator with the power to impose a legally binding contract. This process effectively circumvents the bargaining process, and the Union has been given 10 days to provide a response as to whether we accept arbitration or not.
The decision to seek arbitration after only 4 days means that our strike is having an effect. NSCAD is feeling the pressure, and now they want a way out without having to make a deal. That’s why it’s more important than ever that we all show up to the picket line and show NSCAD that the only way out is to come back to the bargaining table!
We know that our demands are reasonable: They are based on what is standard practice at other universities across Halifax. We have shown our willingness to compromise toward getting a fair deal, and we encourage NSCAD to come back to the table and to do the work of bargaining in good faith.
Until then, we will continue the strike!
In the meantime, you can email NSCAD Admin directly and tell them to come back to the table.
On Monday March 23, 2026 at 6:30 p.m., CUPE 3912 will be holding its Annual General Membership Meeting (AGM) in accordance with Bylaw Section 10(a)(b) and will happen in hybrid format. Virtual and in-person meeting details are below.
In person location:
CLARI Room (Atrium 340) at SMU (923 Robie Street)
Zoom Information:
Check your email for the zoom information.
At this meeting, the following Executive and Officer positions will be up for election:
We will also be electing Committee members and CUPE 3912 Delegates:
According to Section 17 Committees, (a) Special Committees, “A special committee may be established for a specified purpose and a specified period of time by the membership at a meeting.” If you interested in reviving or starting a new committee, please email president@cupe3912.ca and recording.secretary@cupe3912.ca and it can be established through a motion at the AGM and subsequent elections can take place.
All members in good standing who have held at least one CUPE 3912 contract since Winter 2024 are eligible for nomination. These roles are described in the CUPE 3912 Bylaws, SECTION 9 – DUTIES OF OFFICERS.
Members interested in standing for election to any of these roles can contact Renee Danker, our Office Manager, at office@cupe3912.ca. Nominations are accepted in advance, as well as ‘from the floor’ during the meeting. Self-nominations are also permitted. All nominees will be asked if they accept their nomination.
Before running for office, please complete the Member in Good Standing application and submit it to our Outreach Coordinator at outreach@cupe3912.ca.
Election voting will be online, using Survey Monkey, without paper ballots. If attending in person, please bring your laptop or phone.
We will also be approving previous meeting minutes. Check your email for the link and password.
The NSCAD unit is heading into week two of our strike. Please see below the picketing schedule for the week so you can join us. Picketing will be at Granville Mall (5163 Duke Street) all week.
| SHIFT | Mon. March 9 | Tue. March 10 | Wed. March 11 | Thur. March 12 | Fri. March 13 |
| AM (10am-2pm) | Granville
sign making |
Granville
Rally at 11:00 Legislature Rally at 12:00 |
Granville | Granville
Puppet making |
Granville
Rally at 11:00 All Out for NSCAD!!! |
| PM (2pm-6pm) | Granville
Sign making |
Granville | Granville | Granville
Puppet Protest |
Granville |
We ask that all supporters join us at our solidarity rally at 11:00 am on MARCH 10 at the Granville Mall (5163 Duke Street). Afterwards, we will be marching to Province House to join in protesting cuts to arts funding.
Attend our other solidarity rally on Friday March 13 11:00 am at the Granville Mall (5163 Duke Street). We need everyone to show up so we can continue to make ourselves impossible to ignore! Please invite your students, professors, friends, and members of the arts community. I look forward to seeing you there.
After the CUPE 3912 NSCAD bargaining team met for over 8 hours with NSCAD, the university decided to walk away from the bargaining table and break off negotiations. NSCAD’s bargaining team said they were no longer interested in responding to our demands for fair wages.
As a result: as of now, all ICAs, TAs, and RAs will be ON STRIKE.
We remind and ask that all supporters join the NSCAD solidarity rally happening tomorrow at 11:00 am on MARCH 4th at the Granville Mall to kick off the strike. Afterwards, we will be marching to Province House at noon to join in protesting provincial cuts to arts funding.
In the difficult times to come, it will be more important than ever that we show up for one another, and that we stand shoulder-to-shoulder in solidarity. No matter how difficult things get, there is no power on earth that can stand against workers when we choose to stand together!
The bargaining committee and employer will meet for the final time on March 3rd for our final day of conciliation. If this meeting does not produce a deal, CUPE 3912 will be in a legal strike position as of March 4th 2026.
We will be hosting a solidarity rally at 11:00 am on MARCH 4th at the Granville Mall (5163 Duke Street). Afterwards, we will be marching to Province House to join in protesting cuts to arts funding. All CUPE 3912 members are invited. We need everyone to show up so we can make ourselves heard LOUD and CLEAR!
Invite your students, professors, friends, and members of the arts community. A strong show of support for the union puts pressure on NSCAD to make a deal quickly.
For Immediate Release February 20, 2026 Dalhousie’s Part-Time Architecture Faculty Join CUPE 3912
HALIFAX, NS —Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3912 is pleased to announce that part-time faculty in the Architecture Department at Dalhousie University (Dal) are officially members of our Local as of January 14, 2026, retroactive to November 2025.
Architecture was one of only four departments at Dalhousie previously exempted from the part-time faculty collective agreement. With this change, only part-time faculty in Computer Science, Engineering, and Law remain outside the bargaining unit.
This move brings part-time Architecture faculty working conditions into alignment with standards at architecture programs across Canada. Instructors will now enjoy improved compensation, a standard hiring practice, and have their seniority recognized.
CUPE 3912 members voted to welcome the group into the Local in November 2025. An amendment of certification was subsequently filed with the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board and was unopposed by Dalhousie University. The Board ruled to include the Architecture part-time faculty in CUPE 3912 several months earlier than expected.
Motivated by the uncertainty created by the Dalhousie Faculty Association lockout last fall, the Architecture part-time academics completed their organizing campaign within a single academic term.
CUPE Local 3912 represents approximately 300 part-time faculty at Dalhousie University. Larissa Atkison, Dal VP for part-time Academics with CUPE 3912, welcomed the decision. “Our unit is thrilled to welcome Architecture part-time academics into the Local and looks forward to ensuring they receive the same protections and support as other part-time academic members on campus,” said Atkison.
CUPE 3912’s most recent collective agreement was bargained in October 2025.
For more information, please contact:
Lauren McKenzie
President, CUPE 3912
president@cupe3912.ca
Mary-Dan Johnston
CUPE Atlantic Communications Representative
mjohnston@cupe.ca
Welcome current and new members! If you are new, you can head to our website here to read our FAQs, see events happening on our calendar here, and read this article about collective bargaining updated in August. Dalhousie, MSVU, and SMU PT Faculty, and SMU TAs negotiated a CA in Fall 2025. Please reach out to your VPs if you have concerns or questions. An update about NSCAD will be below.
Keep reading for more information!
CUPE 3912 is holding its Annual General Membership Meeting (AGM) on Monday March 23, 2025 at 6:30PM. Elections of officers and committees will take place. More information will be communicated about this soon!
The bargaining committee and employer met with an appointed conciliator for 8 hours on February 9th, and again on February 10th until late in the evening. During this time, we were able to come to an agreement on most of the items in our proposed collective agreement. However, there remain some key outstanding items on which no agreement was possible. Due to the remaining gulf between the union’s position and that of the employer, Conciliation has ended in an impasse.
NSCAD workers are asking for a fair and equitable hiring procedure and meaningful job security protections — basic standards the union says are necessary in a first contract. Read more in a recent CUPE brief, in this news article, or head to the bargaining page to learn more.
A final meeting has been scheduled for March 3rd in which the union and the employer will make one final attempt to make a deal. If no deal is reached, we will be in a legal strike position.
Call on the President and Senior Management at NSCAD and implore them to reach a fair deal at the last conciliation session on March 3rd!
Across our union, positions are being cut impacting our members. We are interested in what these cuts are looking like and how they have impacted members. Please fill out this form if you would like to share your experience with cuts in your department and how that is impacting your career/life.
Responses will be kept anonymous unless you consent in this form. For example, it would say “testimony from a PT Faculty member at SMU”. I am hoping to collate responses into a blog post for the website.
If you are interested, please fill out this Google form linked below by March 1st.
Every February across Canada and in Nova Scotia Black and African Nova Scotian’s are honoured and celebrated, recognizing that this should be done year round. The 2026 theme for African Heritage Month in Nova Scotia is: “Strength in Unity – Moving Forward with Purpose, Prosperity, Power and Progress.” I encourage you to attend events being hosted at your institution if possible or in the community. You can find a calendar of community events here: https://bccns.com/events/
“Every year CUPE honours a Black ancestor, or someone who is making history today. This year we’re honouring Carol Wall.
Carol Wall was a fearless Black feminist and union leader. She dedicated her life to dismantling barriers, confronting inequality, and inspiring people to engage in courageous, transformative conversations.”
Unit meeting on Thursday, February 26, 2026 from 4pm to 5:15pm
Following on a request made at the unit meeting in November, this special unit meeting will be to discuss cutbacks at the post secondary level and impact on part time faculty and on students. Please feel free to send examples you would like to discuss to either Katerina or Greg.
Halfway through term, almost Springtime! Social event-Thursday, February 26, 2026 @5:15pm
After the special unit meeting let’s get together at the Rook to relax, chat and unwind. More detail on offerings will be sent out closer to the event.
Unit meeting on Tuesday, March 31, 2026 from 6pm to 7:30pm
As required in the by-laws, this meeting will consist of elections to the role of CUPE3912 Vice-President, MSVU Part time Faculty and Steward, MSVU Part time Faculty for the 2026-2027 term.
While the strike newsletters will stay on the website and some photos are shared, the local would like to have a member only accessible way to view photos on the website. If you took any photos or videos during the strike, please email our communications officer. A link and password will be shared once the photos have been received.
“CUPE Nova Scotia is pleased to circulate the application forms for our 2026 awards, scholarships and bursaries, which can be found by clicking on the individual links below. Please make note of the deadlines for submitting applications, which are specified in the notes for each individual award.”
Find the applications at, novascotia.cupe.ca/2026/02/19/cupe-nova-scotias-2026-award-scholarship-bursary-applications/.
Please send your story ideas, letters, articles, news, summaries, pictures and any relevant information for the Membership Spotlight to our communications officer by March 1st, 2026.
The bargaining committee and employer met with an appointed conciliator for 8 hours on February 9th, and again on February 10th until late in the evening. During this time, we were able to come to an agreement on most of the items in our proposed collective agreement. However, there remain some key outstanding items on which no agreement was possible. Due to the remaining gulf between the union’s position and that of the employer, Conciliation has ended in an impasse.
NSCAD workers are asking for a fair and equitable hiring procedure and meaningful job security protections — basic standards the union says are necessary in a first contract. Read more in a recent CUPE brief, in this news article, or head to the bargaining page to learn more.
“People are moving to Halifax from elsewhere in the country to work at NSCAD, only to find out they’re guaranteed work for just three months once they arrive,” said Lachlan Sheldrick, Unit Vice-President of CUPE 3912’s NSCAD component. “That’s hard on our members, and it’s not a reasonable expectation from the employer. As a newly organized group, we’re trying to establish clear, fair hiring rules that provide stability and recognize experience.”
A final meeting has been scheduled for March 3rd in which the union and the employer will make one final attempt to make a deal. If no deal is reached, we will be in a legal strike position.
