(Halifax) A strike vote by part-time instructors at Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) has been extended to accommodate a number of employees who the union has not been able to contact.
CUPE Local 3912, which represents the university workers, says the employer is not providing the union with an accurate list of employees so many of them could not be reached. The union has been trying to contact the workers to inform them of their right under the Trade Union Act to cast a ballot in the strike vote.
Voting is being extended to Wednesday (October 17) and Thursday (October 18) of this week, from noon until 5:00 p.m. Ballot boxes will be set up in the main lobby of the Seton Academic Centre at MSVU.
CUPE has already held five days of strike balloting and there are many employees whom they still havent been able to contact. The union has asked the university to provide it with an up-to-date list of unionized employees so that the strike vote may be completed.
CUPE Local 3912 represents some 1,200 Teaching Assistants and Part-Time Instructors at the Mount, Dal and SMU.
Contract talks between the union and MSVU have reached an impasse, with wages as the main outstanding issue. The instructors say they are fed up with being exploited as a cheap labour pool by the Mount.
The MSVU part-time instructors are seeking wage parity with their counterparts at Saint Marys University, who settled a contract back in April of this year.
For information:
Linda Clancy, CUPE National Representataive
(902) 452-9979 (Cell) - (902) 455-4180 (o)
John McCracken, CUPE Communications Representative
(902) 455-4180 (o)