Dalhousie students walk out in support of striking university workers

Students at Dalhousie University in Halifax walked out of classes at noon Monday in support of unionized school employees on strike.

Roughly 1,500 workers from CUPE Local 3912 walked off the job on Oct. 19 as they seek higher wages.

“We have been receiving overwhelming support from students and other staff,” says Cameron Ells, president of CUPE 3912, in a news release from the union.

“Students want to send a clear message to the Dal Board of Governors and management that they should return to the bargaining table and offer CUPE 3912 members fair wages.”

Employees on strike include part-time academics, teaching assistants, markers, and demonstrators. The union says its members earn substantially less compared to their counterparts at other Canadian research universities.

"TAs [teaching assistants] are critical in the lab for safety and various other things," said third year chemistry student Keilidh Corkill, who attended the rally Monday.

Dalhousie teaching assistants are paid $24 per hour for a set amount of hours a year, but most say they work well beyond that. They are asking for $32 an hour -- closer to what similar jobs pay at other universities.

The union has been without a collective agreement for more than two years; it received its last raise in 2019.

“Despite soaring inflation, we have not received even a basic cost of living raise for over three years,” said Dr. Gabor Lukacs, communications officer of CUPE 3912, in the release.

“The cost of living in Nova Scotia is high and getting higher, but wages have not kept up. We have members who are resorting to food banks while working and studying full-time.”

The union says Dalhousie is offering a wage increase that is well below inflation, and CUPE 3912 members will not accept a pay cut.

"I have friends who are dipping into savings that they have been building for the past three to four years just to be able to be here in this school," said Sarrah Putwa, a teaching assistant at Dalhousie.

"We are striking right now unfortunately as a final resort, and what a final resort it’s been. Look at the support around you," said Vincent Mousseau, a teaching assistant at Dalhousie.

The university says its board of governors will head back to the bargaining table with CUPE representatives on Wednesday and Thursday to resume negotiations.

"We remain hopeful that the parties will reach a tentative agreement that would bring this strike to a close," a spokesperson for the university wrote in an email to CTV News Monday.

Students hope concerns shared now will be considered when both sides return to the bargaining table.

"There’s assignments and tests and mid-terms that are piling up that have yet to be marked and students may not be able to get a grade until the strike concludes," said Mohan.

Now entering the third week of the strike, the members of CUPE 3912 resumed picket lines at 8 a.m. Monday.

Courses taught by part-time academics will be cancelled for the duration of the strike, as well as tutorials and labs led by teaching assistants. Exams and tests that are marked by CUPE members will not be graded during the strike.