A strike by University of Manitoba professors, instructors and librarians is having an impact on the Northern Social Work program in Thompson.
Five instructors in Thompson walked off the job as of Nov. 3, suspending classes for about 75 students. They took to the streets at the corner of Mystery Lake Road and Station Road outside the building that houses the program on Wednesday, carrying picket signs and hading out coffee, pizza, doughnuts, mitts and socks to passers-by, including homeless Thompson residents.
The Thompson instructors are among about 1,200 faculty members represented by the University of Manitoba Faculty Association. More than 85 per cent of association members cast ballots in a strike vote and 85 per cent of those who voted were in favour of a strike, the Winnipeg Free Press reported..
Provincial government mandates to limit the amount and number of salary increases that publicly funded institution, including universities, agree to in negotiations rankle UMFA members.
“The government has absolutely no right to interfere into the negotiations between any organization and its employees,” said Leslie Tucker, one of the Northern Social Work instructors. “They’re not involved in day-to-day operations. They think they know but of course they don’t.”
University of Manitoba faculty members are among the lowest paid at large Canadian research universities, which makes attracting and keeping faculty members a challenge – even more so in Thompson.
“Recruitment and retention is a huge issue for us,” Tucker said. “We’re short-staffed and we can’t attract anyone here and that’s the story with any organization in town."
Northern Social Work instructors feel bad for the students the strike is affecting.
“All of us are really committed to our jobs,” Tucker said. “We hate to see the students suspended and not knowing what’s going on and we’ll do everything we can when the strike is over to make sure everybody graduates.”
Some of the students joined their instructors carrying picket signs in Thompson.
“They’re in full support of us and they understand the importance of us being on strike,” said Tucker.
The president of the U of M Students’ Union told the Free Press the strike was frustrating but that students support the faculty since a university that has difficult attracting top professors is not an appealing place to get a agree.
University president Michael Benarroch said the administration was disappointed that the UMFA rejected its last offer and chose to go on strike, the Free Press reported.
“We strongly believe it’s a fair deal, as it would allow us to recruit new faculty with more competitive offers, support faculty retention, and ensure faculty wages remain competitive with their U15 (group of research universities) counterparts as they advance in their careers,” Benarroch said.
in a statement, Manitoba Advanced Education Minister Wayne Ewasko urged both sides to continue “realistic bargaining” in order to come to an agreement.
The faculty association issued a proposal Nov. 4 that included two years of two per cent salary increases and a third year at 2.5 per cent or a cost of living adjustment. The offer also includes increases to recruitment and retention adjustments and a proposal to raise the salaries of instructors to be in line with librarians.
“We know that the university administration has the ability to properly compensate faculty while still leaving additional resources to invest back into the students on campus,” UMFA president Orvie Dingwall said in a press release. “Today, we are presenting this fair and reasonable offer to the administration in the hopes that they will choose to end this strike.”
Tucker said the food and coffee Thompson instructors were giving out was to show that they remain committed to social justice even while they are off the job.
“It was really important for us to do something that meant something to the community,” she said.
Leftover food and coffee was to be donated to the city’s homeless residents.
- with file from Maggie MacIntosh, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Winnipeg Free Press
