Tentative agreements end strike by faculty and librarians at Mount Allison 

A strike by unionized faculty and librarians at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison University is over.

The university posted on its website Saturday that tentative collective agreements between the Mount Allison Faculty Association and Mount Allison University had been reached.

Matt Litvak, president of the Mount Allison Faculty Association, says negotiations wrapped up in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“This was a challenging round of negotiations, but our striking members stayed strong and united in their determination to achieve a settlement at the bargaining table,” Litvak said in a news release.

“Issues in dispute during the strike included accommodation for faculty and librarians with disabilities, job security and compensation for part-time faculty and librarians, workload, and resources.”

READ MORE: Mount Allison students advised to remain close to university despite strike

Full and part-time faculty and librarians who took to the picket lines Monday were returning to work as of Saturday.

Classes and academic programming for the university’s 2,100 students were to resume on Monday.

“We’re pleased to have those agreements in place and look forward to welcoming our faculty and librarian colleagues back,” said Rob Hiscock, director of marketing and communications for Mount Allison University.

READ MORE: Strike cancels classes indefinitely at New Brunswick’s Mount Allison University

About 150 full-time and 60 part-time employees were affected by the strike, which began when the faculty association rejected the university’s latest offer last weekend.

Litvak said details of the tentative agreements will be shared with the membership in a few days, and a ratification vote will follow.

He said until then, no details of the tentative agreements will be released to the public.

The strike was the second at Mount Allison in six years. Faculty walked out for three weeks in early 2014 over workload, salaries, benefits and pensions.

Hiscock said details, such as any impact of the strike on the school term, were still being discussed and would be posted for students in the coming days.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2020.