Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers

 

For Immediate Release 18 November 2013

 

 

Halifax, NS - The Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers (ANSUT) has issued its support for the Cape Breton University Faculty Association (CBUFA) following a 92% vote on Wednesday, 13 November, in support of striking at Cape Breton University. CBUFA, which represents over 150 faculty, librarians, lab instructors, and nursing practice educators, informed its members last week that negotiations had reached an impasse.

 

Talks broke down over the issue of teaching workload for faculty members: CBUFA seeks a teaching load “consistent with similar sized universities in the Maritimes, and in fact across the entire country”, according to its Chief Negotiator Professor Allan Fraser. The Employer’s response was to table proposals that would almost double the workload of as many as 30% of the faculty.

 

ANSUT President Chris Ferns said Monday that “CBUFA’s overwhelming member support for job action demonstrates a firm commitment to fair and equal working conditions for all university teaching faculty, despite the Employer’s attempts to create a multi-tiered system that would effectively relegate some of our province’s valuable teachers to ‘second-class’ status.” Ferns called on the Employer to return to the table with reasonable workload proposals and to engage CBUFA in negotiating a fair and timely settlement.

 

The Association of Nova Scotia University Teachers represents more than half of Nova Scotia’s university teaching faculty.