As discussed at our recent Special Meeting we filed for conciliation with Dalhousie. We had exchanged financial proposals, but both sides were still far apart. A conciliator has been assigned and we are waiting for dates.

We bargained at SMU yesterday and made some more progress. Both sides are hoping to wrap up non-monetary items (mostly) and table financial proposals soon.

We are in a similar situation at the Mount, where we bargained on Friday.

We are in bargaining at both SMU and the Mount next Friday.

Join us this Friday February 4, 2022 for a special online general meeting focused on bargaining updates.

To RSVP for the meeting, contact our Membership Officer, Kim Robinson. 

A link will be sent to those who have RSVP’d prior to the meeting. 

Last week we bargained again at the Mount. We reached agreements on a few more minor proposals but we still seem to be far apart on more major proposals regarding hiring and discipline. We have prepared financial proposals but have not yet tabled them. We meet again on Feb. 4.

This week we managed to add another short bargaining session at Dal on Wednesday.

Last week we bargained at both SMU and the Mount (online). For both we are working on wrapping up non-financial proposals – or deciding what is at an impasse – before tabling financial proposals. At SMU we seem to be quite close but at the Mount we are still in some initial discussions about some major issues.

The delay in the Mount compared to the other universities is mostly because the employer filed for conciliation last year early in the process. The conciliator advised both sides to go back to the table so we had a restart at the end of 2021, at which time we were lagging behind the other two universities. However, we have more dates scheduled for the Mount in the next few weeks, so that might change.

This past week we tabled our financial proposals at Dalhousie. Next week we have bargaining at both the Mount and SMU.

Our discussions followed the common steps of us explaining that we deserve a lot more money because other PTers at Canadian universities get a lot more money, and them replying that we don’t have a lot to give you and we don’t need to anyway because other PTers in Halifax (i.e., at SMU and the Mount) get the same. This time we intend to break this cycle of the three universities using the others as comparators to justify our low wages.

We also had an excellent presentation by Fallen, VP for TAs and Markers at Studley, who explained how a substantial wage adjustment would help marginalized groups, something Dalhousie has repeatedly promised to do.

If the employer(s) continue to deny us fair wages despite our efforts, WE NEED YOUR HELP if we are to gain any substantial increase in stipends! Please look out for further information, follow our campaign and attend future meetings (tbd). Wage Parity NOW!

Check out our latest newsletter, which includes:

• President’s Update
• Inflation During Pandemic and Bargaining Times
• Survey Says . . . On Contributing to Improvements in TA/Marker Working Conditions
• In Memoriam, Pat O’Neill

We had bargaining days at Dal and the Mount last week.

• At Dal we finished most of the discussion on non-financial items with the employer; however, we have reached an impasses for some of these items so they remain unresolved. We will table financial proposals at our next meeting on Jan. 7.
• At the Mount we had further discussion on most of the non-financial items, trying to see if there is some common ground.
• We resume bargaining at SMU and the Mount in the second week of January.

Our general meeting is Friday December 10 at 1 pm. It will include:

• Bargaining updates
• Bylaw amendments 
• By-election for VP SMU Language Centre
• Reports from executive and committees including Health and Safety
• Refreshments, for those attending in-person

This is a hybrid meeting. You can attend in person at Seton 407/409 at MSVU, or via zoom.

Please RSVP for the meeting with our Membership Officer, Kim Robinson by December 9 and indicate if you will attend virtually or in-person.  

Proof of vaccine required for in-person attendance.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternative-Nova Scotia calculated the hourly wages a person needs to earn to pay for their basic needs, given the costs, available government supports and services, and norms of a specific region.

Considering how many hours you actually work to earn your salary, are you making a living wage?

We do not have bargaining dates until late November. We know that bargaining is taking a long time. There are several reasons for this:

• We are bargaining with three employers at the same time. Although last time we finished earlier at one university, we signed the collective agreement at the third university almost three years after the previous one expired.
• We have a lot of proposals because there are a lot of changes to be made to the collective agreement to achieve fair working conditions. It takes time to discuss these proposals and we are making progress.
• It is difficult to schedule times when 7-11 people are available. The schedule of our CUPE representative is particularly busy as whoever is in this position also assists other locals and is at other bargaining tables as well. Also note that we (union bargaining team) do not get time off for bargaining, as may be the case for other bargaining teams. However, we are setting several dates at all universities in the next few months hoping to wrap up soon. Also note that we are continually working on bargaining with extra meetings for the individual teams and all teams together.