Almost 83 per cent of Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) members voted to reject the contract offer from the university’s board of governors, prolonging the lockout and leaving students in limbo less than two weeks from the scheduled start to fall classes.
A record 93.4 per cent of members — including professors, counsellors, librarians and other teaching staff — voted on the offer from August 14 to 21.
“This sends a clear message that the DFA Members are willing to stay the course,” says DFA President Dave Westwood in a statement. “Spirits among our picketers is sky high, and support from other faculty associations and unions is strong. It’s time for the board to come back to the table with something that our members can seriously consider.”
Members rejected the board’s August 11 offer of two per cent salary increases each year for the next three years, instead proposing yearly increases of 3.75 per cent, 4.75 per cent and 5.75. In an August 11 letter to the DFA, Dalhousie President Kim Brooks called it the board’s “final” offer.
Westwood said Dalhousie’s offer “cannot be accepted.”
“The cost of living increase offered of 2% each year for 3 years is unacceptable,” Westwood said in a statement to the Dalhousie Gazette. “This will likely lose further ground relative to inflation over the life of the agreement, and will do nothing to catch us up on the approximately 9% loss in real wages that we have incurred over the past three collective agreements.”
Dalhousie’s website says the university “is committed to offering what we can to increase compensation for faculty while, at the same time, protecting core academic activity and minimizing further significant layoffs in the years ahead.”
The DFA reduced its proposal for salary increases twice since bargaining began in June. The board hasn’t budged from its current offer, with Dal’s website stating “our faculty compensation is comparable to other U15 universities.”
What’s not comparable to other U15 universities is Dalhousie’s decision to lock out faculty.
The board locked out almost 1000 DFA members on Wednesday, Aug. 20, before the association finished voting on the board’s final offer. The university forced members to stop work by “locking” them out of their classrooms, research facilities, Brightspace and school email accounts. This is the first time one of Canada’s 15 leading research universities has ever locked out its teachers.
When the lockout commenced, the DFA gave the required 48-hour notice before striking on Friday, Aug. 22.
All classes taught by DFA members are suspended for the duration of the lockout.
Dalhousie’s website says students should arrive on campus as normal, and the university expects classes to commence “a day or two” after the lockout is over.
Westwood says it will take longer than that.
“Any weeks that are lost to a lockout will need to be added to the start of the Fall semester before classes can begin, because preparation time for courses will have been lost.”
Residences and dining halls will still open on schedule, and campus services remain open and staffed. Campus buildings, the registrar’s office, academic advising, athletics and student supports are all unaffected. Orientation week, co-op terms and internships will also go ahead as planned.
Classes at the University of King’s College that Dal students can register for are also suspended. The only unaffected King’s courses are the Foundation Year Program, senior journalism classes and master’s programs.
“If the lockout is not resolved before the start of term, teaching at King’s will be impacted until there is a resolution,” reads a statement from Tim Currie, King’s College vice-president.
The dispute
The board stands behind its August 11 offer.
“This offer reflects our commitment to reaching a fair and responsible agreement — one that supports DFA members while also recognizing the significant financial challenges the university must navigate during the same period as this agreement.”
Dalhousie said they need to reduce expenses by $75 million by the end of the 2027-28 fiscal year. The board said they can’t accomplish that and give faculty the deal they want because employee compensation comprises nearly 72 per cent of the university’s operating expenses.
Westwood says the $55 million surplus Dalhousie reported in 2024 is one factor that shows “the financial position portrayed by the Board is not nearly as dire as they suggest.”
The university disagreed in a statement posted on July 23.
“We appreciate that, in the past, Dal’s care and caution in budget planning has at times resulted in a modest surplus, and there may be the same expectation this year.”
“There are limits to what we can offer in our current financial situation without threatening critical programs, services, and supports — not just for our students, but for faculty as well,” Dalhousie’s website said.
Dalhousie nursing student Halle Golding says students are the ones most impacted by the dispute.
“To lock educators out of the school is unjust and disheartening for the thousands of students who have sacrificed their time, money and energy in a commitment to making their education a priority,” she says.
The Dalhousie Student Union (DSU) is urging the university and DFA to ensure students’ needs are at the forefront of negotiations.
DSU President Maren Mealey says the union has been advocating for the university’s Senate to pass academic protections for students who choose to honour faculty picket lines.
“Students are not bargaining chips,” she says. “We deserve stability, quality education and the right to stand in solidarity without risking our academic success. We’re listening to student concerns and will continue to push for solutions that protect their rights, well-being and educational experience.”
The Gazette requested an interview with President Brooks and other senior members of Dalhousie’s administration involved in contract negotiations. Instead, the Gazette received a statement from media relations director Janet Bryson on behalf of the university.
“We recognize that our Dal community is anxious to see a resolution to these negotiations, particularly our faculty and students who are looking forward to the start of term,” Bryson stated in part. “Dalhousie’s negotiating team presented the Board’s final offer to the DFA and asked that it be brought to the membership for a vote to conclude no later than the end of this week [Friday August 15].”
The DFA’s vote concluded on August 21.
Labour disruption was “inevitable”
Dalhousie says a labour disruption became “inevitable” and the DFA was “delaying efforts to resolve this matter before the fall term starts.”
“It is better for the university for it to happen now, in August, instead of commencing after fall term classes begin, when the consequences for students would be much more severe,” the university’s website says.
Westwood says Dal’s desire to lock out faculty before the fall caused the board to take an “extremely aggressive approach to bargaining.”
“The Board believes that a lockout will pressure DFA Members to accept a poor deal in order to avoid disruption to the Fall semester and lost wages. Since relatively few students are on campus in August, the Board might have made the gross miscalculation that a lockout would save money and apply pressure with little to no consequence to regular University operations.”
Dalhousie nursing student Dean Burke is worried about the lockout’s repercussions beyond the classroom.
“This disruption could delay my graduation, postpone my ability to enter the workforce and ultimately impact the healthcare system that urgently needs new nurses,” he says. “We as students are caught in the middle of a dispute beyond our control, yet the consequences fall heavily on our shoulders.”
The university says they will “engage in all efforts to ensure students can fulfill their academic requirements within the term, as to not affect degree progression.”
90/10 rule
The board’s August 11 offer dropped controversial changes to the collective agreement’s longstanding 90/10 rule. The rule mandates that 90 per cent of teaching is done by full-time faculty and allows the remaining 10 per cent to be done by sessional instructors. Sessional instructors receive little job security, minimal benefits and lower pay than faculty.
The board initially wanted to alter the language of the rule to include limited-term instructors in the 90 per cent.
“From the Board’s perspective, there is no principled reason to exclude these members of the DFA bargaining unit in the 90%,” Dalhousie’s website said.
Westwood says adding these instructors, who are DFA members, to “the 90 part of the count would put the Board 76 DFA Members above their minimum quota, and they could therefore eliminate 76 DFA positions with no consequence.”
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