Faculty strike begins at Mount Saint Vincent University after no deal reached

Full-time faculty, librarians and lab instructors at Mount Saint Vincent University declared a strike Monday after failing to reach a deal with the school.

“We don’t want to be here … but we’ve been forced into this position,” said Mount Saint Vincent University Faculty Association spokesperson Jeff MacLeod.

“We want to support our community, we want to be there for our students, but we feel we have no choice given what’s happened over the last few months with these negotiations.”

In December, members of the Mount Saint Vincent University Faculty Association voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike.

The MSVUFA contract expired at the end of June, and the association is looking to modernize its collective agreement, which is 35 years old. They are also seeking to “advance decolonizing and equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (EDIA) efforts.”

In a statement, the association said it failed to reach an agreement with MSVU after three days of conciliation meetings.

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“While the strike looms large, the MSVUFA Bargaining Team is continuing negotiations with the Employer and will do so until there is a new Collective Agreement,” lead negotiator Geneviève Boulet said.

In a statement to the MSVU community, vice-president of administration Isabelle Nault said she was “disappointed” that an agreement was not reached.

It said the parties bargained on Friday and over the weekend, and “agreed on numerous language items” to improve equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

Nault said the association responded to the school’s financial proposal from Jan. 25 on Saturday night, indicating members were set to strike on Monday.

“Still, negotiations continued Sunday as planned. Regrettably, a tentative agreement was not reached,” Nault said.

She said the school will “do all we can” to support students throughout the strike and minimize its impact on the students’ academic experience.

Campus remains open, it said, though classes taught by full-time faculty, librarians and lab instructors will not run during the strike. Classes taught by part-time faculty will continue, except for a “small number of labs.”

The library will also remain open, though some services will be impacted.