PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Monday 28 January 2019
STRIKE MANDATE:
FUNSCAD UNIT I VOTES ‘YES’ IN STRIKE VOTE
Members of the union representing Regular Part-Time faculty, Full-time faculty, Regular Prorated
faculty and librarians at NSCAD University have voted in favour of a strike mandate.
With 97.6% of members voting, 97.5% voted ‘YES’ in supporting their bargaining team as they
head into conciliation this week with the employer.
The union has been in negotiations since July and after 18 meetings had hoped to reach an
agreement with the employer at the table. Workload, fair compensation, job security and
support for caregivers are major unsettled issues.
“Our requests are reasonable and affordable,” maintains Mathew Reichertz, FUNSCAD
President. “We want a fair and more equitable settlement that will bring our working
conditions closer to parity with teaching staff and librarians at other Nova Scotian
universities.”
NSCAD teaching staff and librarians have been working under the terms of a contract that
expired on June 30, 2018. This agreement was reached in 2016 when union members accepted
to roll over a previous agreement in order to help NSCAD maintain a balanced budget during
a time of financial stress.
“Our members’ sacrifices have helped NSCAD to address its previous financial problems, but
a university cannot run on sacrifice alone,” says Reichertz. “An important part of a vibrant
and sustainable university that provides an excellent education is fair compensation, a
manageable workload, and support for members with parenting and caregiving
responsibilities. Anything less undermines NSCAD’s ability to attract and retain the qualified
faculty, instructors and librarians necessary to ensure quality post-secondary education for
students and their communities.”
Contact: Mathew Reichertz, FUNSCAD President
Faculty Union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
902-494-8191, [email protected]
www.funscad.ca
-30-
FUNSCAD strike vote results January 2019