The University of Windsor Faculty Association and university negotiators resumed mediation talks Oct. 1, as strike action that began Sept. 17 continued.
The strike by more than 1,000 full and part-time academic staff at Windsor follows three months of face-to-face bargaining sessions between the administration and the union, talks going to conciliation and mediation, and an overwhelming strike vote.
Academic staff have been without a contract since July 1.
Faculty association president Brian Brown said it’s the union’s first strike in 26 years. “The university administration tabled a ‘best offer’ our team didn’t even want to bring back to us,” he said. “Academic salaries that would be below the provincial average, pay for part-time faculty that would be the lowest in the province, and a salary structure for full-time faculty that would be the most unattractive in Ontario — this is not bargaining a contract, this is bargaining a strike.”
Brown said other strike issues include working conditions for sessionals, retirement options, employment equity and anomalies.
“We’re back in the bargaining process and remain committed to reaching a settlement with the university,” Brown said.