University of Waterloo

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Thursday, October 19, 1995

Manitoba faculty go on strike

The University of Manitoba faculty association went on strike yesterday in response to university attempts to renegotiate the contract under which they work. Says a statement from the university administration:

The primary issue in the strike is the University's ability to adjust its expenditure to declining revenues, i.e., how does the University, in light of continuing revenue shortfalls, reduce the size of the academic staff complement without compromising academic freedom and tenure. Salaries of faculty are also at issue, but proposals from both sides are being actively discussed.

The administration issued this progress report yesterday:

281 members of the Faculty Association have written to the University of Manitoba to indicate that they will not be joining the strike and that they will continue all of their duties as usual. This represents 27 per cent of 1,050 Faculty Association members directly involved in teaching the university's students.
In addition, an unspecified number of striking Faculty Association members are entering the university campus to continue their classes, to meet students, or to make alternative arrangements for their students. Further, there are many courses being taught by instructors who are not part of the Faculty Association bargaining unit -- the university is expecting that the instructors of these courses will follow-through on their contracts and will continue all classes.

U of M says the two main campuses remain open, with services and activities still in operation -- including a convocation ceremony scheduled for today.

And elsewhere in Canada

The CBC reports this morning that authorities at the University of British Columbia last night voted to lift the ban on admissions to the graduate program in political science. Admissions to the program had been suspended as a result of allegations and controversy about the department's climate for women and racial minorities, a controversy that has been aired endlessly in national media.

Staff talking about pay

The staff association compensation subcommittee holds its open forum at noontime today, and all staff are invited: Math and Computer room 2065, starting at 12:30.

The forum "will provide a summary of results from our May compensation survey", organizers promise, "and give staff members an opportunity to ask questions, offer suggestions and voice concerns about compensation issues. It is the intention of our subcommittee to provide a means by which staff can get a clear understanding of the budgetary situation at Waterloo. We also want to gather as much information as possible from our membership prior to meetings of the University Committee on Staff Compensation." Provost Jim Kalbfleisch will be there to talk about budgetary matters.

Continuing education courses

Maureen Jones of the UW continuing education office sends word about a few courses that will be starting in November. She notes that faculty and staff members get a 25 per cent discount on tuition fees.

Benchmarking for Competitive Advantage November 3 & 10 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Introduction to PageMaker, Version 5.0 November 7, 14, 21, 7-10 p.m.
Page Layout and Document Design, Monday November 13, 9 am - 4 p.m.
On-line Documents and On-line Documentation, November 14, 21, 28, 7-10 p.m.
Proposal Writing November 20 & 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Introduction to WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows, November 21, 24, 28, 30, 7-9:30 p.m.

For more information or to register, you can call Continuing Education at ext. 4002.

She adds: "There is also one course that starts next week that could take in a few more registrants. Writing in Business: Strategies for Delivering Your Message is offered Wednesday evenings from October 25 to November 29, 7-9:30 p.m. Cost is $175 with a 25% discount offered for faculty and staff. There is also a 25% discount for UW students for this course only."

We all scream . . . for science

Whipping up enthusiasm for Saturday's open house, the faculty of science is sending its van on the road today. The van, piloted by Scott Nicoll, who chairs the open house committee, will visit Alpine Public School in Kitchener and put on a show for about 50 students who will take part in making liquid-nitrogen ice cream. "There will be lots of smoke and excitement and we get to eat the results," Nicoll says.

Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
(519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
credmond@watserv1.uwaterloo.ca

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