Acadia University Faculty Association is now the certified union for a new bargaining unit of contract academic staff. In June, the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board issued a certificate after a hearing to determine the composition of the bargaining unit. AUFA applied for certification April 9 and a vote of the contract academic staff was held April 12. The association signed up almost 100 members during a three-month campaign. The Labour Board's count of ballots showed 89 per cent support unionization. The new unit includes all part-time academic staff who are employed under letters of appointment from the university and those on contract with the division of continuing and distance education. Dianne Looker, AUFA's past president, said she was pleased to end her term as president with this success. "A key issue for the association was defeating the employer's attempt to exclude from the bargaining unit those teachers who receive remuneration from external sources," she said. Incoming president Soren Bondrup-Nielsen and AUFA's executive now move on to bargaining a first agreement for the new unit.