The Dalhousie Students’ Union stands in solidarity with Dalhousie TAs and PTAs demanding living wages and fair working conditions
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - The Dalhousie Students’ Union (DSU) affirms its solidarity with Teaching Assistants (TAs), Part-Time Academics (PTAs) and other precarious academic workers at Dalhousie University who have been in a legal strike position since April 2022. The Dalhousie Board of Governors approves employment contracts between the University and its employee groups. The previous Collective Agreement between the Board and CUPE 3912 (the union representing Dalhousie’s precarious academic workers) expired on August 31, 2020. Negotiations are still ongoing to reach a new four-year agreement from September 1, 2020 to August 31, 2024.
A strike this fall at Dalhousie University would affect over 1,700 academic workers, leaving the 20,000+ students that the DSU represents with unnecessary barriers to completing their degree requirements and undue stress. These barriers include class cancellations, ungraded courses, and other learning disruptions. Working conditions for our academic workers define learning conditions for students but neither have been reflective of skyrocketing costs of living and tuition fees. Despite domestic and international tuition consistently increasing by at least 3% annually, TA and PTA compensation has stagnated for the past three years. Teaching Assistant hourly wages have remained at $24.41 per hour – among the lowest within the U15 schools – while the Part-Time Academic base stipend has remained at $5,232 per course, $2,000 below the national average. Many TA contracts are being replaced with marker or demonstrator contracts to enable Dalhousie to pay 40% less for the same amount and quality of work.
Dalhousie’s last proposed agreement that was voted down by CUPE 3912 members, would only have increased hourly TA wages and PTA base stipends by an average of 2% per year or less over the agreement’s 4-year period with no retroactive pay for TAs. This effectively amounts to a 10% pay cut in real, inflation-adjusted wages for most CUPE 3912 members at Dalhousie.
Dalhousie’s most recent public sector compensation report disclosed that President Saini’s salary increased 13% to $558,154 last year. The salary reportedly, “accurately reflects the current market for presidential compensation at the other 15 research-intensive post-secondary institutions across the country”.[1] The same cannot be said of compensation for the academic workers who form the backbone of Dalhousie’s teaching and learning infrastructure. Living wages and fair working conditions for our academic workers are essential for an exceptional student experience as identified in Dalhousie University’s recent Strategic Plan, “Third Century Promise”.
The Dalhousie Students’ Union is calling on Dalhousie University to meet CUPE 3912’s rightful demands for living wages and fair working conditions as well as to facilitate a swift resolution to negotiations to prevent unnecessary disruptions to teaching and learning within the community.
About the Dalhousie Students’ Union (DSU)
The Dalhousie Students’ Union (DSU) represents the collective voice and supports the diverse interests of over 20,000 students at Dalhousie University. The DSU supports over 250 student societies, builds community on campus through events, provides a range of essential student services and advocates for student rights to all levels of decision-makers within and beyond the University community.
For further information, please contact:
Aparna Mohan
President, Dalhousie Students’ Union
dsupres@dal.ca