NSCC staff could strike if collective agreement not ratified

Faculty and staff at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) have been negotiating a new collective agreement since August, but they have not come to a deal.

The Atlantic Academic Union, representing about 2,000 NSCC faculty and support staff filed for conciliation on Jan. 19 after reaching a bargaining impasse.

“We feel there is some major roadblocks and impasses at the table in particular on workload, fair wages, fair hiring and job security,” said Susan Thompson Graham, Atlantic Academic Union’s lead negotiator.

The union said the discord stems from longstanding problems, and faculty across the province have reached a breaking point.

“Many faculty have 60- to 70-hour workloads, including nights and weekends every week. That’s just not working for us anymore,” said Thompson Graham.

She said, every year management has received economic and merit increases. The college has also increased the number of manager positions and reclassifying them, resulting in higher wages.

“More of the college’s money is going toward management and we don’t have enough staff to support students,” she says.

A conciliator was appointed by the province on Friday.

In a statement to CTV News, NSCC said it is committed to reaching a collective agreement.

“Conciliation is a legitimate step in the collective bargaining process and can be helpful in supporting parties to resolve any outstanding issues at the bargaining table.”

If an agreement is not reached, staff could go on strike, which would make it NSCC’s first strike in the history of the college.

Daryl Lambert, faculty and union member at the Aviation Institute at NSCC, does not want to go on strike but he said his hands are tied.

“The income I’m going to have if we go on strike is going to be dramatically less than what I am making right now, so times are going to be tougher.”

However, he said he’s overworked and cannot continue like this.

“I make preparations the night before for the following days. I have classes throughout the day, and often work outside of my office hours. Even now I am helping students catch up on things they missed from the previous semester.”

He said if meetings next week do lead to a strike, students will suffer, especially those in programs like the one he teaches.

“We are regulated by Transport Canada and so students have to meet a set number of hours for their programs. If the strike happens, that means they aren’t going to get their program.”

Lambert feels less than optimistic going into the conciliation next week, but he said if the college does not come to an agreement with faculty there are larger consequences.

“We teach nurses, child and youth care, and many other programs. We are seeing issues in those areas in the province where they need more people in those fields. If we go on strike those are delayed graduates in those programs.”

The union has asked for a 15 per cent raise over three years to meet inflationary increases. This increase would match other colleges in what they received across Canada.

“We’re looking at getting economic increases that are pretty small but also trying to put some of those increases into the steps of the wage structures, so we’re not asking for anything over and above what other folks are getting,” said Thompson-Graham.

The union members have not received a raise to put them ahead of inflation since 2013.

Conciliation will begin next week.

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