Canada : CBU faculty votes in favour of strike, applies for conciliation
SYDNEY — Cape Breton University’s faculty association has delivered a strike mandate and applied for conciliation amid a threat of layoffs.
Andrew Molloy, president of the union representing professors, librarians and
Over a two-day period, 111 members voted to strike while 12 members voted against the motion.
“We went to our members last week and laid out proposals from both sides, but we can’t really get into that right now,” said Molloy. “The members were told where we stand and where (the employer) stands.
“Our members at that point thought there had been sufficient lack of progress from the employer’s perspective and they feel the sense of urgency, obviously, because we are under threat of layoffs.”
Cape Breton University administrators say the potential for job losses comes in the wake of their attempt to recoup $5 million in annual funding.
University officials are faced with financial shortfalls as a result of the province’s funding scale-back and due to a dwindling population resulting in fewer students graduating high school in Cape Breton.
Another blow has been the decline in the number of international students from Saudi Arabia as a result of a change in their own government’s scholarship program.
Earlier this year, a representative of the CBU faculty association said about 20 layoffs were being considered, representing about 15 per cent of the union’s 145 members.
At this point, there is no specific number of layoffs, although it is expected the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the university’s board of governors in September.
Although unable to disclose specifics of their contract negotiations, Molloy said that at this time job security is one of the main issues on the table.
“If you’re dealing with potential layoffs, you’re dealing with job security,” he said. “So it’s more on the lines of job security than the issue of salaries.”
Molloy said the union’s recent strike vote will empower its bargaining committee. Members of the union’s executive today applied to take their labour strife before a conciliator.
“Obviously we want negotiations to continue,” said Molloy. “We hope that this will spur both sides on to reach an agreement.”
According to an opinion piece published last fall by university president David Wheeler, CBU may be forced to downsize its operations by up to 10 per cent, taking at least $10 million out of the Cape Breton economy and eliminating up to 140 direct and indirect jobs in the region.
The faculty association says it believes layoffs could jeopardize the sustainability of academic programs, therefore reducing CBU’s capacity to offer a full range of university programs to its current and future students.