The Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) will have two meetings Thursday with its members after the university extended a new offer to the union.
The two sides met for nearly 17 hours Monday and Tuesday with a conciliator, but meetings ended without an agreement.
In a statement Wednesday evening, Dalhousie President Kim Brooks says the new proposal offered has an increase in compensation but will require “trade-offs and difficult conversations”.
Thursday morning the union says they have asked the Board to meet again by 9 a.m. but have not received any response.
President of DFA, Dave Westwood says, he has to, “seriously question their statements about wanting to end the lockout because that requires continuing negotiations, not presenting yet another ultimatum.”
He says the meetings today will provide a full update on the bargaining process to date.
“The Board has created a huge mess by choosing a lockout when they did, and they continue to act as though there is no problem, or that it is somehow the union’s fault that they have acted irrationally and ignored all the advice we have offered them,” notes Westwood. “They continue to misrepresent their financial situation and have certainly not acknowledged the $8-10 million saved while not paying 1000 faculty during the lockout.”
According to Brooks, Dalhousie has endured financial difficulties over the past year, that is a result of having fewer international students due to federal policy changes and less funding.
Email access
Although the lockout remains until the agreement is accepted, to prepare for faculty to return, members will gain access to their email Wednesday evening into Thursday.
Communication will also be shared with students on how fall term dates might change.
Rally
The student union held a rally Wednesday afternoon on campus who are concerned about tuition still being expected, despite having no classes.
President Maren Mealey says students are frustrated, uncertain and asking for a reduction in pay.
“As the Dalhousie student union, we are asking that we get a tuition reduction that is proportion to the amount of class time missed,” says Mealey.
Dalhousie faculty have been locked out since August 20.
