Mount Allison faculty on strike, all classes suspended

By Ehsan Khaleel
Protests Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

Faculty, university fail to reach an agreement in last-minute negotiations

Faculty at Mount Allison University will be on the picket lines on Monday after the Mount Allison Faculty Association and the Mount Allison administration failed to reach an agreement on Sunday.

On its website, Mount Allison says, "due to strike action taken by Mount Allison’s full-time and part-time faculty, all classes are suspended until further notice."

"All other services at the University continue to operate as usual, including residences, the dining hall, the student centre, the athletic centre, and the library."

Campus was busy Sunday as students waited for word on the negotiations.



Some students told CBC News that their professors had warned them to prepare for the worst and offered tips on staying on top of their studies during any strike.

Salaries, pensions, benefits at issue

The Mount Allison Faculty Association had set a strike deadline of 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 27.

In a statement issued last week, the association said it was part of "a continuing effort to resolve its dispute with the administration over the terms of the next collective agreement."

The union says workload and the need to provide greater support to the core academic mission of the university are the key issues in the dispute.

Salaries, pensions and benefits for full-time and part-time members are also areas of contention, it says.

The association represents 154 full-time and 56 part-time academic staff.

Contract negotiations have been taking place since July.