Sackville, NB – On January 13 and 14, 2014, academic staff at Mount Allison University voted overwhelmingly in favour of authorizing the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) to call a strike if necessary in an effort to reach a deal with the administration.

Of full-time faculty and librarians who voted, 86% voted in favour of a strike; of part-time faculty who voted, 86% also voted in favour. Turnout of eligible voters was high: 99% of full-time and 88% of part-time faculty voted.

“The strong result shows our members’ resolve to protect the academic mission of Mount Allison and its role in providing a supportive community for intellectual development and academic excellence,” said MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

Salary, pension, and benefits remain areas of disagreement, but key differences concern workload and the control that faculty have over their own teaching and research.

“The administration has tabled a series of proposals that would take away academic protections in the areas of teaching and research, eroding fairness in performance evaluations, tenure, promotion, and sabbatical leaves. Their proposals strike at the very heart of the principles of academic freedom and collegial governance which are fundamental to the university,” Michaelis added.

Full-time faculty hiring at Mount Allison has not kept pace with rising student enrollments over the last decade, with the result that faculty are experiencing heavier workloads.

“Increased class sizes and gaps left in programs when faculty who retire or resign are not replaced have meant that faculty have to overwork to maintain the high levels of excellence for which Mount Allison is known,” according to Michaelis.

“Instead of seeking greater control over our work, the administration should be addressing these workload issues and investing resources in our ability to do our work well.”

The Association is hoping that the strike vote result prompts the administration to return to the bargaining table to resolve all outstanding matters.

“Our members are preparing to do what it takes to ensure protection for academic freedom and to secure adequate resources so that we can continue to provide the high quality of scholarship and teaching that our students expect and deserve,” said Michaelis.

MAFA represents 154 full-time and 56 part-time academic staff, and has been in negotiations for its full- and part-time members since early June 2013.

“Academic staff at Mount A unable to reach agreement with university,” Sackville Tribune-Post, January 8, 2014.

MAFA is committed to representing the interests of its members. This site has the latest information to help you understand MAFA’s position during the collective bargaining process. MAFA is committed to ensuring that the negotiating process is resolved as quickly and as efficiently as possible and in keeping with the negotiations protocol that was agreed upon by MAFA and the Employer.

If you have questions, contact MAFA by email or by calling 364-2289.

We are pleased to report that the Administration has agreed to MAFA’s proposal to put the possibility of any labour action, including a strike vote or a lockout, on hold until January 6, 2014.

Sackville, NB – On December 20, 2013, the Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Jody Carr issued his decision not to appoint a conciliation board in the current labour negotiations between the Mount Allison Faculty Association and Mount Allison University.
“We are very pleased with the news. This marks a turning point for labour relations in New Brunswick,” says MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

Earlier in December, the Minister decided not to appoint a conciliation board in negotiations between the University of New Brunswick and its academic staff union.

Conciliation boards are allowed under New Brunswick labour legislation but were rarely used until the previous government, the Liberals under Premier Shawn Graham, began appointing conciliations boards in the university sector. Conciliation boards are controversial because they can prolong negotiations. They can also be expensive for both parties, as well as the government.

“We firmly believe that the best agreements are reached through free and unconstrained collective bargaining,” Dr. Michaelis said.

“We applaud the Alward government for reconsidering what was beginning to look like a new policy on collective bargaining in the university sector. We would like to offer particular thanks to our provincial organization, the Federation of New Brunswick Faculty Associations, for their hard work in making the case for free collective bargaining,” she said.

The Mount Allison Faculty Association began negotiating with Mount Allison University on June 4 and filed for conciliation on August 8. Despite numerous sessions at the table with the assistance of the conciliator, the parties were unable to reach an agreement. The conciliator filed her report on December 9. Now that the Minister has decided not to appoint a conciliation board, a countdown begins: by December 29, MAFA will be in a legal position to call a strike vote and the Employer will be in a legal position to impose a lockout.

The Minister has appointed a mediator to assist the parties through the next stage of the process. MAFA has approached the University with a proposal to put the possibility of any labour action, including a strike vote or a lockout, on hold until January 6.

“We look forward to continuing negotiations with the Employer in the New Year,” said Michaelis. “There are some very serious issues yet to resolve. We are committed to maintaining Mount Allison as one of Canada’s leading undergraduate universities and we are confident that the administration will recognize the importance of faculty and librarians to this mission.”

MAFA represents 160 full-time and 50 part-time academic staff. Both full-time and part-time collective agreements expired on June 30, 2013.

For further information, call Dr. Loralea Michaelis at (506) 364-2289.

The Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) has announced its 2013 donations to local charities.

“Every year the Mount Allison Faculty Association makes donations to local charities, as a way of supporting the good work going on around Sackville,” says MAFA President Loralea Michaelis.

This year MAFA is donating over $4000 to local charities. Earlier in the year, MAFA donated $2600 in support of a Mount Allison refugee student through World University Services of Canada.

Local organizations receiving support include the Sackville Memorial Hospital Foundation, Lillian Allbon Animal Shelter, Sackville Public Library, Sackville Christmas Cheer, Tantramar Heritage Trust, Festival by the Marsh, Tantramar Adult Learning Centre, Tantramar Family Resource Centre and the Tantramar Hospice Palliative Care Organization.

“This year our members decided to support a mix of organizations that provide help to those in need, as well as educational and cultural initiatives in the community,” Michaelis says. “We know that times are tough for many people and organizations and we are pleased to be able to do our part to make things a little better,” she says.

MAFA is the bargaining agent for 200 full- and part-time professors and librarians at Mount Allison University.

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For more information, call Geoff Martin, (506) 364-2289.

As many of you will have heard by now, the NB government has committed to increase the operating grant for universities in the province by 2% per year for the next two years. It has also allowed for annual tuition increases of 3% per year for the next three years.

MAFA welcomes this greater assurance of the financial condition of the university and looks forward to the greater prospect of long term planning and long term support for its core academic mission.

• N.B. universities promised 2 years of funding increases

Attachments:

• A letter of thanks from Loralea Michaelis, MAFA President, to MASA members, Executive, and Negotiating Team, for their support (PDF).
• A letter from CUPE Local 3433 Executive to MAFA’s Bargaining Team, Executive, and Members-at-Large, in support of MAFA (PDF).

Below you will see a media release sent out by MAFA early this week. Stories based on it have run in the Moncton Times and Transcript (May 21), the Sackville Tribune-Post (May 22) and possibly other outlets.

Since the release was sent, MAFA has been told officially that the Employer has appointed Brian Johnston, QC, a partner at Sterling McKelvey in Halifax, as its Chief Negotiator. Our two collective agreements expire on June 30th and collective bargaining will begin soon. This will be a very costly expenditure of the government grant and tuition dollars entrusted to the Board of Regents. Mr. Johnston is a Mount Allison alumnus and past chair of the Board of Regents. (more…)

Mount Allison University president Robert Campbell has announced that the Board of Regents has passed a balanced budget for the coming fiscal year, but not all constituencies of the university are impressed.

“There is a balance between revenues and expenditures but there is an imbalance when it comes to the priorities of the President and the Board of Regents,” says Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) President Loralea Michaelis.

Michaelis says that the Board of Regents is losing sight of the core mission of the university, which is to provide an excellent education to students and to make it possible for faculty to contribute to our understanding and appreciation of the world through research and creative activity. (more…)