University of PEI Faculty Association says members on strike as negotiations stall

The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.

The University of Prince Edward Island Faculty Association says its staff has gone on strike after what it says are failed attempts to enter additional negotiations with the university's administration.

The association, which represents all academic staff at the university, such as librarians and sessional instructors, says its members entered a strike as of midnight Monday.

In an update on Sunday, the association said it has sent "multiple" requests to the university's board of governors in March requesting additional meetings to negotiate a new collective agreement.

It says the board has indicated it expects negotiations to proceed exclusively via email moving forward because of failed attempts to reach an agreement in the past 11 months of negotiations.

The association says it is seeking several changes to the agreement, including more full-time faculty to reduce course sizes and to create more course options.

The university's administration was not immediately available for a comment Monday morning, but says in a community letter posted online on Friday that it is committed to achieving a collective agreement with the faculty association.

The administration says in the letter that it seeks an agreement "that is consistent with other primarily undergraduate universities in the region and is in the best interests of our students."