Dalhousie University teaching assistants go on strike

Teaching assistants at Dalhousie University went on strike Wednesday.

CUPE Local 3912 says the strike also includes some instructors, markers and demonstrators.

The two sides are at an impasse over a pay raise, which union members haven't received since 2019.

Dalhousie teaching assistants are paid $24 per hour. By comparison, the union says a teachers' assistant at Western University is paid double that amount.

"It's bittersweet," said Adam Foster, who teaches in the political science department. "This was not something we were hoping we would have to do. We were hoping that Dalhousie's administration would be able to offer us a fair contract."

Foster says support from students and the public has been encouraging.

"I think that their salary needs to be increased for sure," said Brooke Barness, a medical sciences student. "Compared a lot of other schools, it's a lot lower is what I've heard, so I'm definitely on their side."

The president of the Dalhousie Faculty Association also backs the union, even walking with members on the picket line Wednesday afternoon. 

"We're 100 per cent behind our CUPE colleagues," David Westwood. "CUPE 3912 workers are our academic siblings ... our members require and depend upon the good work and expertise of our CUPE colleagues."

Westwood says these employees have been underpaid for a long time compared to their counterparts across the country.

The details of Dalhousie's final offer, which the union rejected, was posted on its website Wednesday afternoon.

"Certainly this isn't the outcome the university was looking for with these negotiations," Chris Hattie, who works in human resources at Dalhousie, told CBC News on Wednesday.

"This is the first labour disruption that Dalhousie has had in over 20 years which really means this is a significant event in our university, one that we recognize will have a disruption on our community and particularly our students."

Hattie said the school offered the union a significant pay raise in the latest offer.

"The university has put forward a proposal that provides, on average, 15 per cent increases over the life of the proposed agreement."

That 15 per cent is over three years.

"Ultimately I think that the proposal makes an important and meaningful step towards addressing affordability and the comparability issues that the union has brought forward," he said.

There are no new negotiation meetings scheduled between the two sides.

Campus remains open for students, but classes taught by CUPE instructors will be suspended.

The university said in a news release students should watch for information from their instructors or faculty about how their courses may be affected.