NSCC faculty set to go on strike Monday

The NSCC Marconi campus is seen in Sydney, N.S., on April 5, 2018.

For what could be the first time in Nova Scotia Community College’s history, hundreds of union members are set to officially go on strike Monday.

According to a news release from the Atlantic Academic Union, the organization filed a 48-hours’ notice to the provincial minister of labour and are now in a legal strike position. The union says it represents 1,081 faculty and professional support staff at NSCC.

“The action comes following an unproductive negotiation meeting with the Atlantic Academic Union negotiation team, NSCC and the provincial conciliators on March 14,” the release says. “The Atlantic Academic Union and NSCC have been negotiating a new collective agreement since August 2023, after receiving a strike deadline from AAU members to conclude negotiations within a five-month period. In the past, negotiating a new contract has taken up to four years.”

In a previous release, the union said it was seeking improved workloads, fair hiring, and protection of bargaining unit work, among other things.

“After many delays throughout the day, the college gave us what they said was the final offer at 7 p.m. (on March 14) and we countered again at 9 p.m.,” said Atlantic Academic Union lead negotiator and faculty member Susan Thompson Graham in the release. “This was a pivotal day to try to avert a strike and achieve agreement and half the day was wasted by purposeful college delays.

“We tried very hard to compromise and work within NSCC’s parameters, while still respecting the economic reality of our members who are 14 per cent behind inflation.”

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