Senator urges end to Mount Allison strike

(Sackville, NB) — Senator Mabel M. DeWare today called on the administration of Mount Allison University to step up its efforts to resolve the faculty strike now entering its third week.

“I wish to express my concern about the disruption of classes at Mount Allison University because of a collective bargaining dispute,” Senator DeWare wrote in her letter to Mount Allison president Ian Newbould and David Stewart, chief negotiator with the administration. “Clearly, in order to salvage the students’ academic year, the labour issues in dispute must be resolved as soon as possible.”

Mount Allison, Canada’s premier undergraduate university, ranks near the bottom of similar universities in terms of faculty pay. Striking faculty members are worried that poor pay scales will hurt the quality of education at the university.

“Senator DeWare’s letter to the administration today reinforces our call for a quick resolution of the strike through binding arbitration,” said George De Benedetti, president of the Mount Allison Faculty Association. “We’re ready to return the bargaining table and be flexible as soon as the administration’s chief negotiator’s hands are freed.”

The Mount Allison Faculty Association went on strike January 21, the third labour disruption at the university in 7 years.

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For more information contact:

Prof. George De Benedetti, President
Mount Allison Faculty Association Strike Headquarters
47 Main Street, Sackville NB
(506) 536-2968 (strike headquarters)
(506) 536-2396 (Home)
FAX (506) 536-0200
[email protected]
http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/MAFA