Mount Allison Faculty Association calls for special mediator to settle labour dispute

The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) has called for a special mediator to assist with negotiations in an effort to end the labour dispute at Mount Allison University.

Faculty and librarians have been on strike since January 27th. After three days of meetings held this week the parties were unable to break the impasse.

“We had hoped that the administration would be ready to negotiate with us,” said MAFA President Loralea Michaelis. “The strike is taking its toll on the university but its effect on the administration’s bargaining expectations has been negligible.”

Michaelis says that the administration has not altered its bargaining position since the strike began two weeks ago. “MAFA made significant moves to find a way through to a settlement, but we got nothing back from them,” she says.

To bring the strike to a conclusion, MAFA is proposing the appointment of a special mediator, usually someone from outside the province. “This helped at UNB and we think it can help at Mount Allison,” Michaelis said.

“MAFA believes in free collective bargaining. The best collective agreements are reached at the bargaining table, by negotiating.”

The administration is currently considering MAFA’s proposal for a special mediator.

“Right now it’s really just a question of finding who is available.”

Members of MAFA have been working without a contract since June 30, 2013.

Academic staff from all across Canada will once again be arriving in Sackville on Friday, February 7 to show their solidarity with the faculty and librarians of the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA), who have been on strike since Monday January 27.

“The continuing support of our colleagues across the country is wonderful. Every day in the mail we are receiving messages of support from other academic staff associations, and when the flying and driving pickets arrive on Friday we honour these ties of solidarity and good will,” says MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Defence Fund has over 20,000 members from 50 unions and sends solidarity pickets when a member union is on strike. Like last Friday, a parade around the campus will start from Strike Headquarters at 11:45, wrapping up with a Solidarity Rally at the Bandstand on Main Street around 12:30.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the parade and the rally.

Come out and show your support!

Yesterday the Provost sent an email to students, staff, faculty and librarians regarding the strike. The email reiterates claims and allegations that have appeared for some time on the administration’s website.

It would be fruitless to engage directly with the misrepresentations and mistruths in the materials that the administration is putting before the public. They are all mustered in support of a single outrageous conclusion, which is that the interests of faculty and librarians conflict with the interests of students and the long term interests of the university.

This corrosive misinformation campaign is just that, and nothing more. But here’s the real problem. The administration will not make its case any more effectively at the bargaining table by disparaging the faculty and librarians on the picket lines. Neither will this dispute be resolved by bargaining in public. We will only get a deal at the negotiating table.

If the administration were as serious about resolving this dispute as they claim to be, they would be negotiating with us at the bargaining table. Instead, they are conducting negotiations in public – on their website, in emails, and by staging daily sidetable negotiations with our students.

We have always been and continue to be willing to negotiate. We will not abandon appropriate and productive bargaining practices. And we will not abandon our commitment to negotiating a fair and reasonable settlement. As faculty and librarians we want to ensure that we are able to offer the highest quality education to our students and to contribute our very best to the life of the university.

We would like to thank all of you for your engagement over the past few weeks, this past week above all. You are welcome to drop in to Strike HQ or to stop by on the picket lines to talk to us. We look forward to continuing our conversations.

—Striking faculty and librarians of the Mount Allison Faculty Association

Dear students,

We are deeply troubled by the recent news we have received that you have been advised by the administration to discontinue your honours research projects, even though your supervisors made deliberate and careful arrangements with you to ensure that your research would not be needlessly interrupted during a strike.

We hope that you will join us in pressing the administration to reverse its position, so that you can continue with your research.

Attached, the letter that MAFA has sent to Robert Campbell, President of Mount Allison University: MAFA to R Campbell (PDF)

Sincerely,

The faculty and librarians of the Mount Allison Faculty Association

Addendum

On January 31st the administration reversed its decision and the Dean of Science announced that Honours projects in Psychology would be allowed to continue.

Academic staff from all across Canada will be arriving in Sackville on Friday, January 31 to show their solidarity with the faculty and librarians of the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA), who have been on strike since Monday January 27.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) Defence Fund has over 20,000 members from 50 unions and sends solidarity pickets when a member union is on strike.

“We are grateful for the support of our colleagues who will be joining us on the picket lines.  The issues that we are raising about academic freedom and the sustainability of the academic mission of the university resonate with faculty and librarians across the country,” says MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

A parade around the campus will start from Strike Headquarters at 11:45, wrapping up with a Solidarity Rally at the Bandstand on Main Street around 12:30.

Everyone is welcome to take part in the parade and the rally. Come out and show your support!

Dear Mount Allison Students,

MAFA wants you to know that both teams negotiated throughout the weekend, exchanging proposals and hoping to reach a settlement. Regrettably, this did not happen.

We recognize that a strike creates a challenging situation for students. Please be assured that we want to get back to our classrooms, labs, and desks as soon as possible. We take the issues that have been raised in these negotiations seriously, and have taken a strong principled stand on them. What is ultimately at stake for us is the well being of the university’s academic mission. We have not taken this stand lightly.

We welcome your questions and inquiries. PLEASE get in touch. We want you to. You can email us ([email protected]), tweet us (@MAFA_MTA) or simply pop by our Strike Headquarters at 98 Main. You can also come by the picket lines. Our members will be happy to answer your questions.

Your Professors and Librarians

For Immediate Release –

Mount Allison faculty and librarians go on strike on Monday morning to protect the academic mission (January 27, 2013-Sackville, NB)

After three days of intensive negotiations between the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) and the administration, picket lines went up Monday morning at Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB.

“We bargained late into the night attempting to resolve this deal. However, the administration has yet to move on proposals that are simply unacceptable to our membership,” says MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

In the strike vote held on January 13 and 14 the full-time and part-time faculty and librarians voted 86% in favour of a strike.  The key unresolved issues are administrative control over teaching and research, workload, equitable pay, and pensions.

“What is at stake in this negotiation is the future of the academic mission at Mount Allison,” says Michaelis. “The quality of our students’ education depends on our working conditions.”

“We hope to continue bargaining so that our members can be back in the classroom as soon as possible,” added Michaelis.

MAFA represents 154 full-time and 56 part-time faculty and librarians, and has been in negotiations since early June 2013.

Please visit mafanegotiations.ca for updates.

Members of MAFA, students and community members are warmly invited to join the MAFA Executive and Negotiating Team at the opening of our Strike Headquarters, located at 98 Main Street (the former Ducky’s space beside the Bell Aliant shop) this Friday, January 24th at 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.

This will be the location of our team and the meeting place for members, should the 12:01 Monday, January 27th deadline pass and a legal strike occurs.

Light refreshments and snacks will be served. Everyone is welcome!

Sackville, NB – The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) has set a strike deadline for 12.01 am on January 27, 2014, in a continuing effort to resolve its dispute with the administration over the terms of the next collective agreement.

“At our last session at the negotiating table it became clear that our positions remain far apart. The administration is persisting with proposals that undermine collegial governance and increase administrative control over teaching and research,” said MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

The Association has identified workload and the need to provide greater support to the core academic mission of the university as its main issues. Salaries, pensions and benefits for full-time as well as part-time members are also areas of contention.

During a strike vote that was held on January 13 and 14, part-time and full-time faculty and librarians voted 86% in favour of calling a strike if necessary.

“We had hoped that this evidence of member resolve would persuade the administration to take our concerns seriously. It seems to have made little difference,” Michaelis commented.

“It will be difficult to withdraw from our classrooms and labs,” added Michaelis. “We are committed to protecting our students’ learning conditions. This is why we cannot stand by while the administration erodes academic freedoms and the integrity of academic programs.”

The Association has posted a series of FAQs on its negotiations website at mafanegotiations.ca to address specific student questions and concerns. The website also has additional information about the main issues under negotiation.

The next negotiating session will be held on Friday, January 24th.

MAFA represents 154 full-time and 56 part-time faculty and librarians, and has been in negotiations since early June 2013.

Immediately following the results of the MAFA strike vote last Tuesday evening MAFA contacted the provincially appointed mediator to arrange meetings with the administration so that the parties can begin the work of reaching a settlement as soon as possible. MAFA offered available times on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. MAFA was told by the mediator that the administration is unable to return to the bargaining table until this coming Monday, January 20th. A meeting between MAFA and the administration is now confirmed for that day beginning at 9am.