Time is running out to avert a strike by Western University faculty.
The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA), the union representing the post secondary institution’s 1,600 full-and-part-time faculty, has set a strike deadline for 11:59 p.m. Monday. If a deal is not reached by then, its members will hit the picket line Tuesday morning.
“Despite some signs of progress, the team does not yet see a deal coming together,” the union said in a statement. “[Western’s] current offer on the table is not enough. We are tired and overworked after stepping up to save the teaching mission of the university during an unprecedented pandemic and the employer’s words of gratitude for that must be backed up by concrete action in this round of negotiations.”
The union went on to state that the university is saving $4 million because of Bill 124, a piece of provincial legislation that caps wage hikes for public sector workers at one per cent.
“We need to see more on the table,” the union said.
Faculty have been without a contract since the end of June.
The union has said key sticking points surround benefits for part-time members, job security for contract faculty, and pay equity for studio courses in the Faculty of Music.
While talks between the two sides are continuing, the union has advised its members to remove all items from campus that they would like available to them during any potential job action and stop course materials from being automatically released to students online.
Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com