It’s back to the drawing board for the union representing Western University’s librarians and archivists.
In a statement posted on its website, the University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) says 74 per cent of its membership voted against a tentative agreement that was hammered out between the school and the union over the course of the Thanksgiving weekend.
Officials announced they had reached the deal on Oct. 7, heading off the start of planned strike action on Oct. 9.
Voting on the agreement finished early this week, and UWOFA said in its statement that its membership voted against the agreement partly because they felt it didn’t address a staff decline of more than 20 per cent over the last decade.
The statement also said members believe a three-year deal would allow them to come back to the table after the wage restraints contained in Bill 124 — legislation tabled by the provincial government before the extended summer recess — have ended.
The bill, which has not been approved, deals specifically with public-sector pay and would prevent total compensation from increasing by more than one per cent per year.
UWOFA’s online statement reiterated that it’s still in a legal strike position and that further updates would be issued in the coming days.
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