By a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent, Mount Allison Faculty Association (MAFA) members rejected the report of the conciliation board on the labour dispute between the union and the employer. The vote was held on Feb. 8 and 9.
The union has informed the Ministry of Labour of its rejection.
The union negotiating team will contact the employer’s negotiating team to return to the negotiating table.
MAFA president Rick Hudson says, “It is our intention to reach an agreement through free collective bargaining so that classes will not be affected.”
At the meeting of the union members preceding the vote, the following reasons for rejecting the report were discussed:
1. Members were concerned that the conciliation board process serves only to disrupt free collective bargaining;
2. The conciliation board report failed to provide specific recommendations for some important outstanding issues;
3. Issues of great importance for the part-time unit were ignored in the report, which recommended an increase that would bring part-time members to a salary of $26,753 for the equivalent of full-time work, with virtually no benefits.
4. The report’s recommended salary offer would see Mount Allison’s salaries fall further behind those of other New Brunswick universities.
