WINNIPEG — Faculty hit the picket line at the University of Manitoba Tuesday morning.
At 7 a.m., staff officially went on strike at the Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses after they couldn’t agree on a new contract with the university. Picketers can be seen along Chancellor Matheson Road with signs reading, “UMFA on legal strike.”
Most classes will be cancelled for students until the strike is over, but some classes will resume. That information is can be found here.
The school put forward a final counter offer Monday morning, which was rejected by the University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA). UMFA represents about 1,200 professors, instructors and librarians.
“We’re on legal strike because mediation came to an impasse,” said Mark Hudson, president of UMFA.
“Let’s see if we can get something accomplished on workload protections, on performance assessment and on job security,” he said. “Even on those things with the prospect of a zero percent salary increase, they were unable to offer us anything remotely adequate.”
READ MORE: University of Manitoba professors back strike mandate
Negotiations have been ongoing since March. The latest contract expired on March 31.
“Our contract still remains in effect until the new one is negotiated… so we’re not completely without one,” Hudson said. “But once you go on strike the collective agreement is gone.”
John Kearsey, vice-president of external relations for the University of Manitoba, said students are worried about how the school year will unfold now that classes are on hold.
“UMFA made a decision to begin a disruption to students during the school year, which is very disappointing,” Kearsey said.
“30,000 students expressed to us serious concerns about this academic year… it is stressful and concerning for them,” he said.
Kearsey said some professors – who are not part of UMFA – will continue to teach. There also could be more staff who are part of the union that will head back to class, but Kearsey said that information will become more available as the day goes on.
The university has requested a mediator from the government and discussions at the table should resume Wednesday, Kearsey said.
“It’s important to have the discussion at the table and not the picket line… we need to get the conversation going,” he said.
The university has also set up a website to keep students informed about what’s going on. They can find that here.
“We understand there are risks not just to our own members, but also students,” Hudson said. “We’re the ones responsible for their learning and we take that very seriously. But at some point we have to stop the erosion of the integrity of the university.”
The last time faculty went on strike at the University of Manitoba was in 2001.