Acadia University faculty union on strike, classes cancelled

Acadia University's 350 professors, librarians, archivists and instructors are on strike today and classes are cancelled after the union rejected the latest contract offer from the university.

A news release from the union says it set a strike deadline of today at 12:01 a.m. local time after meetings with the provincially-appointed conciliator "failed to result in substantial progress in negotiations."

The release says the conciliator filed a report declaring an impasse on Jan. 14, but discussions during the 14-day cooling off period failed to produce an acceptable offer.

It said the union is asking for salaries "that do not fall too far below cost of living increases," and also improvements to hiring processes to increase diversity among faculty, including dedicated positions for Indigenous faculty.

"[The union} is committed to improving the academic sector through a gradual increase in tenure-stream faculty to meet increasing student enrolment, improved wages and working conditions for part-time faculty," the release said.

"Unfortunately, the board's latest counterproposal does not bring us closer to an agreement that achieves these essential investments."

Union president Andrew Biro said faculty have gone "above and beyond" to support students through the last two years of the pandemic.

"Unfortunately the board has been unwilling to acknowledge the importance of faculty or recognize that decent working conditions guaranteed by a fair and equitable contract are paramount for us to continue to serve our important role in sustaining Acadia's strong academic programming," said Biro in the release.

In November, 90 per cent of the Acadia University Faculty Association membership participated in a strike authorization vote and 94 per cent of those voted in favour striking, the release said.

Dale Keefe, the university's provost and vice-president of academic, said in a statement that he is "deeply troubled that this situation impacts students."

"While there is currently disagreement on what the final collective agreement contains, both parties — the faculty association and university administration — ultimately want the best for our students," said Keefe.

A message posted on the university's website says all classes and labs at Acadia University are cancelled until further notice due to the strike, but all other campus operations and services continue, and student supports are in place.