Memorial University professors may soon go on strike

Negotiations between universities Memorial University Faculty Association (MUNFA), which represents about 800 teachers and librarians, has been in a deadlock since December.

According to the President MUNFAAsh Hossain, a strong majority workers want to strike, but before canceling classes, the union first wants to hold a special meeting on January 10 and formally poll its members in an online poll.

Three points of friction

There are three issues: salaries, benefits for retiring staff, and job security for non-tenured professors.

Teachers’ salaries have not been increased for 6 years. Their last collective agreement expired in 2020 and negotiations were suspended during the pandemic.

The MUNFA Requires 14% increase over 4 years (immediate 8% increase followed by 2% three-year increase).

They are simply told to raise wages only this year, at the rate of inflation, Ash Hossain explains. He notes that according to Statistics Canada, professor salaries at Memorial University rank 14th among Canada’s 15 general purpose universities.

The university says its hands are tied. It has suffered successive budget cuts and had to lift two decades of tuition freezes last September. Management is offering professors 1% or 2% annual raises through 2027, as well as a $2,000 signing bonus.

Neil Rosethe rector and head of negotiations of the university said in front of the microphone CBC, on December 19, the university asked the state government for additional funding to further increase the salaries of its professors. Much to the chagrin of Ash Hossain, who claimed that this was the Liberal government’s decision, this request was rejected.political interference in the collective bargaining process.

Mr. Pink announced that the government wants to fund increases of up to 2% per year for civil servants only. The university could offer more money to its employees, but it must do so at its own expense.

There are no other financial sources in the university budget for salary increasethis is stated in the information posted on the website of the university on December 14.

In a statement last month, the government rejected the criticism, pointing out that it had proposed provides general advice to public sector entities but does not negotiate on behalf of Memorial University.

We hope that the parties will soon return to the negotiating table with the aim of concluding a collective agreement.he continued.

Students soon hostage taken?

Anne Tharo, associate professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, believes that the university’s 19,000 students are likely to hostage taken within three weeks.

He admits that the salaries of teachers and librarians are relatively high. More than 1,100 university employees earned $100,000 or more in 2021-22.

But we start too latehe remembers. $par cours par trimestre et qui ont droit d’enseigner un maximum de deux cours en tant que chargés de cours. C’est 10000$par trimestre.”,”text”:”Il faut un doctorat en tout cas pour avoir un poste qui mène à la permanence. Sans doctorat, les gens sont condamnés à être des chargés de cours qui gagnent 5000$par cours par trimestre et qui ont droit d’enseigner un maximum de deux cours en tant que chargés de cours. C’est 10000$par trimestre.”}}”>In any case, you need a doctorate to hold a tenure-track position. Without a Ph.D., people are doomed to become teachers earning $5,000 per course and are only allowed to teach a maximum of two courses as a teacher. Each term is $10,000.

He claims the university is asking its professors to tighten their belts when their superiors don’t.

000$] et des administrateurs, qui ont eu des augmentations très importantes. 1500$[par mois] pour la maison et 1000$pour la voiture, bon, c’est comme il y a deuxpoids deuxmesures”,”text”:”Quand on voit le salaire de notre présidente [450000$] et des administrateurs, qui ont eu des augmentations très importantes. 1500$[par mois] pour la maison et 1000$pour la voiture, bon, c’est comme il y a deuxpoids deuxmesures”}}”>When you see the salary of our president [450 000 $] and managers with very significant increases. 1500 dollars [par mois] $1,000 for a house and $1,000 for a car, well, that’s like double standardshe believes.

Professors of Memorial University were on picket in 2000. The picket lasted 12 days.