Today, February 1st, the members of the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA) are now in a legal strike position that started at 12:01 as of this morning. This comes as a result of the AUFA and the Administration’s unsuccess in reaching a new collective agreement despite joint efforts from both sides and with the help of a provincial conciliator. These negotiations have been taking place since July, along with a strike authorization vote that took place in November with most of the members voting in favour of a strike. On January 14th, the provincial conciliator declared an impasse with a fourteen day “cooling off” period that followed. In a letter on the AUFA’s strike website called “FAQ for Acadia Students,” the AUFA and the Board of Governor’s wants are listed for what they hope to acquire out of these negotiations. Some of the proposals from the AUFA include a cluster hire of Indigenous scholars, a fair salary for faculty that keeps up with the cost of living and improved working conditions, to name a few. On the other side, a list of proposals that come from the Board of Governors declares that they want to freeze the salaries for the next two years with a 1% increase for the following two years, also included is excluding faculty from being able to vote on matters that have to do with departmental hiring processes and changes to the faculty’s health and benefits plans. To read more on both sides proposals, you can read them on the AUFA’s strike website: https://www.acadiafaculty.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/FAQ-for-students-re-Collective-Bargaining.pdf. At the end of the day, both the AUFA and the administration at Acadia wants what is best for the students and their education. Because of the ongoing strike, classes and labs for students will be suspended until further notice.
