Getting back to the bargaining table as soon as possible: that's one thing Laurentian University professors and administration can agree is important on Day 1 of a faculty strike at the educational institution.
The Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA), which represents 380 full-time and 260 part-time faculty, took to the picket lines at midnight Sept. 28, causing classes to be suspended on most of campus.
Talks between the two sides broke down Wednesday night.
LUFA president Jim Ketchen said they'd been in “fairly hard-hitting mediation for the last three or four days,” and the faculty had presented the university with an offer.
“Rather that responding to that offer, the employer declared an impasse and didn't respond to that offer,” he said.
“Once they declared an impasse, it's pretty difficult for us to do much more than say 'OK, an impasse has been declared by them, so we're on strike.'”
But the university's chief of staff, Alex Freedman, said he doesn't think the two sides are that far apart.
“I think it's important that we make sure we get back to the table as quickly as possible so we can resolve this and minimize the impact to our entire community,” Freedman said.
“We maintain open lines of communication. It's difficult to say when and what time (we'll get back to bargaining). We continue to have conversations with them, and hopefully we'll be able to find time without too much delay.
“Both negotiating teams are exhausted after four days of intense mediation, but it won't be too long.”
Ketchen said while he feels the ball is in the university's court, he'd also like to get back to negotiations sooner rather than later.
“We hope to get back to table when the employer is ready to respond,” he said. “We'll wait and see what they have to say.”
In terms of the school year, Freedman said there's “many weeks” before the university will have to start doing things like re-organizing exam schedules. Students can still access a wide variety of services on campus.
To students impacted by the strike, Ketchen said the faculty have “struggled mightily to avoid this and to not inconvenience the students.”
The last LUFA strike was in 1989, and it lasted two weeks.
The union president said he wouldn't speak publicly about the specifics of negotiations, which started in May.
“We don't want to negotiate in the media,” Ketchen said.
Freedman, however, did reveal some details of the university's offer to LUFA members. That includes salary increases consistent with those negotiated by faculty at other universities in Ontario in recent months.
He said Laurentian faculty members have workload responsibilities comparable to faculty members at other universities and the lowest student/faculty ration in the province at 18:1.
“The union had been requesting a reduction of teaching hours, and that's just not something we're able to agree to,” Freedman said.
“I know some of the literature has said we were requesting an increase, but that's not the case.”
When asked if the university's recent building spree is impacting its focus on faculty, Freedman said that's not the case.
He said Laurentian has even increased its faculty complement by 30 recently. The university's finances are in “fine shape,” Freedman added, and it's made financial arrangements to cover the cost of its building projects.
