'We also have to eat': Teaching assistants, markers at Dalhousie University go on strike

Low wages have forced some 1,500 part-time academics, teaching assistants, markers, and demonstrators at Dalhousie University to hit the picket lines in Halifax, according to a spokesperson for the union representing them.

Gabor Lukacs says CUPE Local 3912 members have not received a raise in more than three years, despite soaring inflation.

"We're paid almost $2,000 less than our peers nationally. We came in there and said we don't even want you to bring us to the national average, we want you to bring us halfway there," said Jean Philippe Bourgeois, the vice president for part-time workers at Dalhousie University.

The union, which has been without a collective agreement for more than two years, was not able to come to an agreement with Dalhousie University Tuesday night.

Union members officially went on strike at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, forming a picket line outside the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences building around 8 a.m.

“Our members were already badly underpaid two years ago compared to our peers at other comparable Canadian research universities,” said Lukacs in an interview with CTV News Wednesday morning.

He says the impact will be widespread and calls the strike “a last resort.”

“Our members love to teach, love students, but unfortunately, we also have to eat and pay bills,” said Lukacs.

People walk in a picket line outside the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences building at Dalhousie University on Oct. 19, 2022. (Carl Pomeroy/CTV)

Part-time academics teach courses as full-time professors do, however, they are hired on a course-by-course basis, are paid much less, and get no benefits, says Lukacs.

Teaching assistants, markers and demonstrators hold tutorials, run labs and mark assignments and exams, said Lukacs, adding they are “essential for students' learning experiences.”

He says courses taught by part-time academics in nearly every faculty at the university 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.

Sarrah Putwa is a teaching assistant at Dalhousie University. She says she needs to work three other jobs just to make ends meet.

"Flooding food banks because we literally cannot afford grocery bills. We are some of the most housing insecure people in the Halifax Regional Municipality because we cannot afford rent with the money we make," said Putwa.

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.

"While the $24 an hour sounds like a lot, when it's diluted so much, it's essentially nothing and secondly, they don't get a lot of hours," explained Philippe Bourgeois.

In a press release Tuesday night, Dalhousie University said it was “disappointed” with the outcome.

“We recognize the value CUPE members bring to our campus community and share a commitment to achieving many of the goals the union brought to the table,” the university stated. “We believe the university’s final proposal was both significant and responsive to the union’s concerns.”

Striking CUPE members and supporters form a picket line outside the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences building at Dalhousie University on Oct. 19, 2022. (Carl Pomeroy/CTV)

Dalhousie said its final proposal, which was presented to the union before talks broke down, would be made public on Wednesday in an effort to be fully transparent.

The university says it recognizes it needs to improve the compensation.

"A 15 per cent increase over the three year life of the agreement, there's continued work to be done," said Chris Hattie with Dalhousie University. "We're committed to continue to work on a resolution with CUPE and get back to the table."

Lukacs says CUPE has the support of several other groups on campus, including the student union, the faculty association and other labour unions.

“I would like to ask members of the public, students, members of other unions to come out to the picket lines and walk with us and support us,” said Lukacs.

CUPE 3912 is Nova Scotia’s largest university union. It represents more than 3,000 academic employees in four bargaining units at Dalhousie, Mount Saint Vincent and Saint Mary’s universities.