UNBC faculty signs collective agreement ending lengthy labour dispute with university

The faculty association of the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) has reached its first collective agreement with the university administration since 2014, putting an end to unrest that has led to two strikes and closed classrooms.

The universitywith campuses in Prince George and other communities in northern B.C. said in a news release this week that the agreement covering nearly 500 faculty members such as professors, lecturers and librarians includes a general wage increase of two per cent annually, and a redesigned compensation framework that is aligned with other post-secondary institutions across the province.

The new contract will be retroactive to July 1, 2019, and will last until June 30, 2023, an outcome of a year-long arbitration with the university after the unionized faculty members launched a three-week strike in November 2019 that left roughly 3,500 students out of class.

PaulSiakaluk, the president of the faculty association, says his members will be more fairly compensated and have fewerlabour disputes with the university administration now that there is acollective agreement in place.

"That change in salary structure is a big part of this agreement," Siakaluk said. "We'll be able to stay on a par with our competitor colleagues at other universities."

"Faculty members will know that they're getting a fair compensation adjustment every year," he said. "This will be a big attractor for our future colleagues."

UNBCinterim president Geoffrey Payne says the latest deal with the faculty association helps to improve labour relations within the university.

"It's evident that things were strained and it's no fault of anybody it's just where we were," Payne said. "The fact that we were able to do it and negotiate it and then have it voted and ratified is historic and very positive and very exciting for UNBC."

The UNBC Faculty Association was incorporated in 1994 under B.C.'s Society Act, and was certified as a labour union in April 2014 under B.C.'s independent tribunal Labour Relations Board.

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