Mount Allison professors and professional librarians voted overwhelmingly on Monday, November 23rd to back their Executive and Negotiating Team in their troubled relations with the university administration.

Ninety-five percent (95%) of the 91 members of the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) who voted resolved that they are willing to take job action, including striking, in support of MAFA’s contract demands. Seventy three (73) members attended a meeting late Monday afternoon where a secret ballot was held. Eighteen (18) professors and librarians unable to attend the meeting voted by e-mail.

“This vote signals that claims by Mount Allison President, Ian Newbould, that the negotiations have been “taken over by a small rump of people” are false,” says MAFA spokesperson Roger Wehrell.

“We have met 35 times with the administration since our old Contract expired, and our members are very unhappy with the administration’s refusal to move on the major issues,” Wehrell says.

Wehrell believes that the vote will send a strong signal to the Administration and the Board of Regents. “Our members know that salaries, working conditions and the hiring process are better at other universities within the Macleans grouping of primarily undergraduate universities, and they want Mount Allison to join the mainstream,” Wehrell says.

Wehrell says the outstanding issues are described by the words “quality, equity and respect,” and buttons to this effect have appeared on campus this week.

“We have had very little improvement in this Collective Agreement in the last seven or eight years, and there’s a lot of pent-up demand,” Wehrell says. Wehrell says that the situation is aggravated by the fact that administrations elsewhere, including those at other Maritime universities, have done what they can to address their faculty’s concerns after many years of salary freezes and modest increases.

“It’s hard for us to see how Mount Allison will maintain its sterling reputation unless it starts to address seriously the concerns of its faculty and librarians,” Wehrell says.

The MAFA and Employer negotiating teams will meet with a Department of Labour conciliator the week of November 30th. If the Conciliator cannot bring the Parties together, the two sides may be in a legal strike or lockout position late in December or early in the new year.

The university faculty and librarians went on strike for two weeks in April 1992, and came close to job action in the fall of 1995.

For more information contact: Roger Wehrell @ (506) 364-2329 or (506) 364-2289

Mount Allison professors are pleased that the university has led the small-universities group in the MacLean’s Magazine survey once again, but they want the administration to recognize the value of the faculty’s work.

“We are gratified that our work is being recognized by MacLean’s magazine, but we don’t know how long we can keep it up at this level,” says Roger Wehrell, Vice-President of the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA).

Wehrell is referring to the fact that student enrollment has been increasing while the number of faculty positions has been shrinking, causing an increased workload. “This is aggravated by the fact that we are not treated with respect by the administration, which has an impact on morale,” Wehrell says.

“Most of the institutions that finish behind us in the MacLean’s rankings have a better salary scale for faculty,” Wehrell says. “It’s going to be hard to retain professors, especially our brightest young people, under these circumstances,” he says.

MAFA cites lack of progress in negotiations with the administration, and has asked for the appointment of a conciliator. The conciliator is expected to arrive during the week of November 30th. The professors have been working without a contract since June 30th.

The major issues are salaries, short-term contract positions, and gender equity in hiring.

The Mount Allison faculty went on strike for two weeks in April 1992, and came close to job action in the fall of 1995.

For more information contact: Roger Wehrell @ (506) 364-2329 or (506) 364-2289

Citing an “impasse” in its negotiation with the University Administration, the Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) has asked the province’s Minister of Labour to appoint a Conciliator.

“Our difficulties in arriving at a new Collective Agreement with the Administration centre on the issues of “quality, equity and respect,” says MAFA spokesperson Roger Wehrell.

Mount Allison professors have been working without a contract since June 30th. “We have signed off on many articles, but we are far apart on the major issues,” Wehrell says.

He says that Mount Allison professors don’t get the respect they deserve, as measured by the fact that the university salary scale is far lower than most small Canadian and Maritime universities. “Mount Allison has the highest budget per student in all of Canada, but the administration is not willing to ensure that our salary scales are competitive, which would demonstrate respect and ensure excellence,” he says.

The two sides are also far apart on the issues of short-term contract positions and hiring faculty. “We believe in full-time faculty committed to research and service as well as teaching, and we are also strongly committed to hiring more women on faculty,” Wehrell says. He says that the university has a poor record on hiring female professors, despite the availability of many excellent candidates.

Under New Brunswick labour law, the Minister appoints a Conciliator to try to bring the two sides together. If the Conciliator cannot do so, the two sides may be in a strike or lockout position later this fall.

Mount Allison faculty went on strike for two weeks in April 1992, and came close to job action in the fall of 1995.

For more information contact: Roger Wehrell @ (506) 364-2329 or (506) 364-2289