It's a first. The faculty at UNB campuses including Saint John and Fredericton are on strike with classes suspended.
President
Eddy Campbell tells Tide News a cooling off period is needed for the
bargaining teams who have been working very hard to try and resolve
this.
He says like everyone on any side of this they are upset
and disappointed and they need some down time to recharge their
batteries.
Campbell says they are very far apart on the issues and he calls it a very bad place to be.
He
says their best offer is 9.5 per cent over 4 years and the Union
returned with an offer of 26 per cent over 4 years and Campbell says
they do not have anywhere near that amount of money.
The President's of the Student council at UNB Saint John says the reaction is mixed to the faculty strike.
Ashley Macosky tells Tide News some view it as a break and others are upset at the unwelcome interruption to their education.
We asked
him what might happen to the school year if the strike goes on
indefinitely and he tells us there is a no clear answer to that right
now.
He says there is enough room in the academic calendar to
accommodate a two-week strike. He says the semester would get pushed
back to the end of April adding March break would remain in tact where
people have already made travel plans.
Macosky hails from Calgary, Alberta and says while it's not breaking news out west, his mom is upset to hear of the strike.
RCMP conducting a traffic stop on Highway 2 near Havelock got much more than they bargained for.
A
search of the vehicle led to a seizure of approximately 16 pounds of
marijuana. Police arrested the driver of the vehicle, 36-year-old
Jean-Phillip Dubreil, of Montreal, and he has been charged with
trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
He has
been remanded into custody and is scheduled to appear in Moncton
Provincial court today (Monday). The drugs are believed to have been
destined for various locations in the Maritimes.
Teachers
at UNB walked the picket line in the early morning hours hoping for
better wages. comparable to those at universities elsewhere in Canada.
Teacher's
Association President Miriam Jones tells Tide News they were surprised
to hear the news they'll be locked out of the school as of tomorrow.
All
classes have been cancelled for the duration of the strike. The strike
headquarters has been set up in the Somerset Pub mini-mall. It's
expected that both sides will take a cooling-off period before they
resume further negotiations.
The following roads are still closed as a result of flooding:
Simpson Drive at Golden Grove Road
Rothesay Avenue near Rothesay Road at the train bridge
Todd and Holland Streets between Simpson Drive and Rothesay Avenue
Brown Street
Motorists are urged to use caution and observe barricades and signage.
Please
do not drive through water-covered or closed roads. Doing so may cause
damage to your vehicle or to adjacent properties.
As of
midnight Jan. 13, the Association of University of New Brunswick
Teachers (AUNBT) has announced it is exercising its legal right to
strike. Picket lines have been set up this morning at the Tucker Park
campus, and the teachers have been informed they've been locked out.
With
the exception of some online courses and courses in Miramichi, all
classes will be suspended for the duration of the strike. In a
statement, UNB restated its committed to achieving a new collective
agreement that serves the interests of students and and that improves
the current contract with faculty.
Key issues are wages and working conditions at other universities of a similar size.
UNB's
VP of Finance Dan Murray said the wage increase the teachers are asking
for amounts to an increase of more than $2700 and he said they don't
think it's a viable thing for the university to do in this economy.
Murray
also points to decreasing enrollment and caps on tuition increases as
reasons that money is tight at the university these days.
Meanwhile
Dr.
Miriam Jones, AUNBT president says she wondered if they ever intended to
settle, since they kept the negotiation team talking until
practically the
last minute and then offered no movement.
For details on which classes are cancelled, click here
