Part-time academics and teaching assistants rally for wage increases

By: Dylan Follett and Isabel Duque

Editor’s note: This story was reported before CUPE and Dalhousie University reached a deal on the evening of Oct. 20. 

Dalhousie University part-time instructors and teaching assistants rallied in front of the Henry Hicks Building on Oct. 17, ahead of Oct. 20 contract negotiations with university administration.

Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees 3912, which represents Dalhousie’s part-time instructors and teaching assistants, gathered in pink shirts to draw chalk messages in front of the building, encouraging students to join in.

Larissa Atkison, the union’s vice-president of part-time faculty at Dalhousie, says the union rallied to pressure the university before conciliation talks.

Atkison says teaching has become “unsustainable” for part-time instructors at Dalhousie, which accounts for 10 per cent of the university’s faculty.

“We have no job security, most of us don’t have office space. We don’t have a pension; we don’t have any health coverage. We continue to do it because we love undergraduate teaching.”

The union and the university reached a deal late Oct. 20 after hours of conciliation talks. CUPE was prepared to strike on the morning of Oct. 21 if an agreement wasn’t reached. 

In an Oct. 17 statement, Wanda M. Costen, Dalhousie provost and vice-president academic, said, “We remain hopeful an agreement can be reached on Monday. We recognize the vital role CUPE members play in the academic life of Dalhousie.”

 The university did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication. 

CUPE 3912 represents over 5,000 part-time instructors and teaching assistants at four Halifax universities. The union’s previous collective agreement with Dalhousie expired in August 2024. 

“I am working tirelessly to organize this strike to make sure our pickets are organized, fun and lively to show Dalhousie that they cannot break us,” said El Hansen, head of CUPE 3912’s picketing committee, in a speech at the event.  

Members of CUPE 3912 shared food with passing students, including “strike-aversion sandwiches.” They also held signs that read “Education not exploitation” and “Precarity is poison.” 

David Westwood, president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association, announced that the DFA would support the union “both financially and in solidarity” if they strike. 

By the end of the event, most of the area outside the building was covered with chalk messages supporting CUPE 3912, including “C’mon Dal do better” and “Seriously?! Just pay fairly.”