UPEI students say they don't want to see a faculty strike

Students at UPEI are worried about the impact of a possible faculty strike, said the head of the university's student union. 

The UPEI Faculty Association's executive committee is holding a strike vote Tuesday, as contract negotiations have been at a standstill, with a government-appointed mediator unable to resolve the ongoing dispute. 

"There's a lot of anxiety around, 'Am I going to be able to graduate, am I not?'" Adam MacKenzie, president of the university's student union, told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.  

"International students who pay a large tuition every year, much larger than domestic students, they're concerned. 'Does this mean I have to do an extra semester and pay a lot more cash?'"

The association has committed to not striking during the Canada Games, which run from Feb. 18 to March 5 on P.E.I. 

"The [potential] strike is inherently bad for students," said MacKenzie. 

"Ideally, in a perfect world, we would see both parties return to the table and an agreement be reached that both sides are happy with before any sort of labour action needs to happen."

Mediator couldn't resolve dispute

The university and the faculty have been in contract negotiations since April 2022. 

In January, a provincially-appointed mediator was brought in, but was unable to resolve the ongoing dispute. 

At that time, the head of the faculty association told CBC News he was disappointed a settlement couldn't be reached. 

"The employer has for the most part provided a status quo. They want to keep things mostly the same," said president Michael Arfken in late January. 

"Our members have indicated that there are a lot of things that are problematic around here. And that we see collective bargaining as an opportunity to change that. And I think that's a basic disagreement between the parties and it wasn't something that was able to be addressed in mediation."

Administration calls out proposed salary increases

In a statement to CBC News in late January, UPEI's administration said the faculty association's proposed salary increases added up to an increase of more than 30 per cent over the next three years. 

"The UPEI FA proposal is far in excess of negotiated and mandated wage settlements at other primarily undergraduate universities in Atlantic Canada," the statement read. 

The UPEI student union has not taken a side during the negotiations. 

"There's lots of students who are kind of caught in the middle. So we feel it's wrong for us to take a particular side and decide on behalf of all students who's in the right and who's in the wrong," said MacKenzie.  

"We're ultimately the biggest stakeholders in the negotiations ... we're definitely caught in the crossfire." 

Not all students agree with that position, however. About five students have created a group called UPEI Students Support the Faculty Association. 

"Administration is very much framing this as a labour dispute, but I don't think that's fair to say," said Caitlin Wildman, one of the students with the group. 

"A lot of the faculty association's points are about classroom sizes, support for students, and those are the kind of things that we're personally affected by." 

Information sessions for students

The group has been giving information sessions for students, said Wildman, and listening to their concerns. 

"Our tuition keeps going up … but we're not seeing any of that increased funding go back towards students. Like, we have less support now than we did before COVID," she said. 

Though Wildman supports her professors in their concerns, she also does not want a strike to happen. 

"Our group is trying to put pressure on the university to go back and negotiate with the faculty association and we think the more student support we can get, the more likely it is that we can prevent the strike," she said.