The academic staff associations at Laval University, dubbed “the birthplace of French higher education in North America,” and University of King’s College, Canada’s oldest chartered university, are now members of CAUT.

The Syndicat des professeurs et professeures de l’Université Laval and the University of King’s College Teachers’ Association membership applications were unanimously endorsed May 5 by delegates assembled for CAUT’s biannual Council meeting.

SPUL was previously a member local from 1976 until 1994. The decision to rejoin CAUT after a 17-year absence was made by the Laval union membership voting at a special general meeting in February and a majority referendum of the union’s council. SPUL represents more than 1,100 faculty members.

The UKC-TA, recently created to represent full-time teaching fellows at the Halifax institution, voted unanimously at its founding meeting on March 3 to apply for membership in CAUT. UKC-TA represents 10 fellows, and is among CAUT’s smallest locals.

“We are delighted to welcome SPUL back into CAUT. They are one of the strongest faculty unions in the country and will greatly strengthen our association,” said CAUT executive director James Turk. “We are also pleased to have the first organized faculty group from UKC join. We look forward to both organizations playing an active role in CAUT.”

Successful affiliation requires that objectives, practices and constitution of a local association are compatible with those of CAUT.

CAUT now represents more than 66,000 academic staff at 124 universities and colleges across Canada.