U of Manitoba union launches 3-day strike vote

The University of Manitoba's Faculty Association (UMFA) launched a three-day strike vote Saturday to gauge whether members are in favour of walking off the job, but students say they're being caught in the middle and their education is suffering.

Last month, the UMFA said staff were seeking higher salaries that are more in line with other universities across Canada, along with a "more equitable hiring, tenure and promotion processes."

"We are losing members. We are finding it difficult to recruit members. We have many different positions in our departments and it's impossible to remain competitive with our salaries at this point," said Janet Morrill, an associate professor of accounting and finance and a member of UMFA's collective agreement committee.

The university is offering faculty a three-year deal, with salary increases of 0.75 per cent, 0.75 per cent and one per cent, starting this year. 

But Morrill said they're seeking an increase of 4.5 per cent over the next two years.

"That will help a little bit, but really we need to see salary increases over the next decade that have been much better than the salaries over the last decade if we are going to keep our position," she said.

Morrill noted the university continues to lose professors to other post-secondary institutions, including those classified as U15 universities, a collective of 15 of Canada's most research-intensive universities.