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\nUniversities are important public institutions. The education of students and the research undertaken on campuses have a broad impact throughout our economy and society. In Canada, a significant portion of university budgets also comes from government.<\/p>\n
In smaller cities and towns, universities are often among the largest employers in addition to serving as important community hubs. Perhaps nowhere has this impact become more apparent than Sudbury, Ont., where \u2014 as the province of Ontario\u2019s\u00a0auditor-general reported<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 mismanagement at Laurentian University led to significant job losses and disruption to the local economy.<\/p>\n Given the public significance of the university sector, the increasing labour unrest that we are seeing there should be of concern to all citizens.<\/p>\n In 2021-2022, a record six faculty associations were on strike in Canada, at\u00a0Acadia University<\/a>,\u00a0Concordia University Edmonton<\/a>, the\u00a0University of Lethbridge<\/a>, the\u00a0University of Manitoba<\/a>, the\u00a0University of Ontario Institute of Technology<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Universit\u00e9 Sainte-Anne<\/a>.<\/p>\n While faculty union contracts are typically negotiated for three or four years, the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led many universities to negotiate\u00a0shorter \u201crollover\u201d agreements<\/a>\u00a0that extended previous contracts, usually for a year or two, with their faculty unions.<\/p>\n Many of these are now coming up for negotiation, as are the normal-length contracts that were signed prior to the onset of the pandemic.<\/p>\n According to the Canadian Association of University Teachers, the result is that\u00a0more than one-half<\/a>\u00a0of faculty unions in Canada are in collective bargaining this year.<\/p>\n Given the numbers, it would not be surprising if 2022-2023 sets a\u00a0new record<\/a>\u00a0for the number of faculty strikes. There have already been two strikes in Canada: CUPE 3912, representing teaching assistants and part-time faculty at Dalhousie University, and CUPE 3906, representing similarly classed employees at McMaster University.<\/p>\n The 5-year agreement was ratified by 69.6% of members who voted. It includes wage increases of $6.32\/hr, or 14.1%, over the agreement for graduate teaching and research assistants; and $5.66\/hr, or 21.7%, for undergraduate teaching assistants.https:\/\/t.co\/vYqpeHshRV<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/HatZR42WYn<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 CUPE Local 3906 (@cupe_3906) December 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nUniversity labour strikes<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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