About 400 Dalhousie staff members heard the report of the Dal Faculty Administration’s chief negotiator at Ondaatje Hall Monday night before taking a strike vote. This just days ahead of the final conciliation meeting set for Feb.15.
There has been some progress. After almost a year of negotiations, and a difficult conciliation process, the administration and the DFA say they are both ready to discuss monetary issues.
For some, though, it has taken far too long.
“There was a lot of opportunity since April,” says Chris Beaumont, a professor in the department of oceanography. “I feel the university has adopted a policy whereby they are not forthcoming in their willingness to discuss a full range of issues.”
At the moment, the pension plan for Dal’s faculty is insolvent, meaning if the university was to close immediately, it would not be able to pay for its obligations. If the administration and DFA do not come up with a jointly sponsored plan by 2013, the provincial government will not grant an exemption to solvency tests. Dal, by law, will have to find an extra $72 million per year to add to the fund.
Despite this, negotiations have thus far been limited only to non-financial issues, such as childcare and paternity leave. Financial information, including figures for the pension plan, is expected to be brought to the table by the administration at the Feb. 15 meeting.
This will be the last time the two parties will meet in the presence of a third party conciliator, effectively leaving one day to negotiate the most significant issue in the discussions. The two parties could still bargain afterward but without that mediator to help.
Kira Tomsons, a professor of philosophy, does not believe the Dal Board of Governors has operated in good faith. “I think they are trying to use a position of power in terms of students to force us to take action when it would be perceived very badly on us,” she says.
“We’ve been flexible on pensions. We’re willing to negotiate on pensions and they have been unwilling to act.”
Tomsons says she does not want to strike. However, “it may be necessary for the interests of both the union and university,” she says.
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