Strike avoided after MUN and lecturers' union reach last-minute deal

A strike at Memorial University has been narrowly averted, with a tentative deal being reached between the administration and lecturers' union.

Members of LUMUN, which represents per-course instructors and post-doctoral fellows, voted overwhelmingly for a strike action last week, and the union set a deadline of Sunday at 11:59 p.m. to reach a deal with administration its members would walk.

On Sunday night at 11:30, the union announced in a statement it had reached a tentative agreement.

"We were in the eleventh hour, quite literally," spokesperson Alison Coffin said on Monday morning.

"But in the end, we all came together and found a common ground that we think is a reasonable place to be right now."

The lecturers' union has been without a new collective agreement for four years and has spent one year in talks with university administration.

Last month, LUMUN walked away from conciliation with the university's administration over what it called repeated delays and refusals to submit proposals over pay, blaming the university for the lack of progress.

Coffin had previously told CBC News that 75 per cent of its 200 members turned out to vote, with 90 per cent of them voting in favour of the job action.

Coffin said salaries were an important topic in negotiations but the major theme for the union was "fairness and equity," she said.

"A lot of the language that we were negotiating, in addition to the salaries, really centred around that key component. And I think we've solidified a couple of really good pieces of language there that ensure that our members are treated quite fairly and quite equitably."

Coffin would not share further details about the deal but said union members would meet to discuss it Monday evening. She added a ratification vote could also happen Monday.

"It's back to work as normal, but we're going to see maybe some changes in the way our collective agreement is administered, the way we relate to administration," said Coffin.

While Coffin couldn't share more information about pay, she said the negotiated amount is "reasonable."

"We think this is a reasonable place to be given the situation at Memorial University. Given where we are now and where we have been in the past, I think we are in a moderate position that is going to compensate our faculty and our members well."