(Monday, July 7, 2025 – Halifax, NS) – Dalhousie faculty are prepared to strike if a new collective agreement cannot be reached with the Dalhousie Board of Governors. Last week, more than 91% of the members who cast ballots in the Dalhousie Faculty Association (DFA) strike vote said “yes” to strike action in support of the bargaining team's position in collective bargaining.
The strike vote was conducted June 23-July 4, 2025. A total of 85.5% of the DFA Membership participated in the vote. Of those who voted, an overwhelming 91.2% voted in favour of going on strike if an acceptable deal cannot be reached at the bargaining table.
“The need to conduct a strike vote is unfortunate and is only in response to the premature request of the Board to seek conciliation,” says DFA President David Westwood. “The Board has unnecessarily and irresponsibly escalated the potential for a conflict against the wishes of the DFA. The DFA has maintained that the parties should be at the bargaining table, working towards an agreement.”
The DFA bargains with the Dalhousie Board of Governors and the current agreement expired June 30, 2025. DFA filed a notice to bargain April 1, 2025 as is routine timing each round of bargaining. Negotiations began the last week of May, and after only four bargaining meetings held May 19-23, the Board of Governors filed for conciliation on June 2. One more bargaining meeting was held June 20, and then Mr. Rick Rose was appointed as the conciliation officer on June 23, 2025. Conciliation is scheduled to begin later this month.
In collective bargaining, taking a vote of the membership in advance of conciliation is routine and intended to aid the bargaining process by signalling the views of the members regarding the current offer of the Employer. If the Employer’s offer remains the same, then it is not acceptable to the union membership.
“Our members have sent a strong message and we expect the Board to listen,” says DFA President David Westwood.
There are many outstanding issues on the table that have yet to be fully discussed. They include: wages that account for cost-of-living increases and are on par with the pattern in the sector, preventing fulltime jobs from becoming precarious sessional contracts; ending the practice of using limited-term contracts for continuing teaching needs; expanding access to childcare and ensuring workloads are fair and reasonable.
The DFA remains optimistic that a deal can be reached. There is much work to do, and the DFA is prepared to meet with the Employer at the bargaining table over the next weeks and through the summer.
“The DFA has proposed that the parties remain focused on collective bargaining with a view to concluding an agreement. By walking away from the bargaining table and filing for conciliation this early in the process, the Board has made it clear that they aren’t willing to make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement,” notes Westwood. “Unfortunately, the Board appears to be focused on creating conflict and potential disruption.”