A member of the Dalhousie Faculty Association walks a picket line after the university locked members out over a contract dispute in Halifax on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
Dalhousie faculty to reveal details of new agreement, results of union ratification
HALIFAX - The union representing nearly 1,000 Dalhousie University professors and other teaching staff is expected to release details on Thursday of the tentative agreement reached with the school and results of the ratification vote.
A member of the Dalhousie Faculty Association walks a picket line after the university locked members out over a contract dispute in Halifax on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese
HALIFAX - The union representing nearly 1,000 Dalhousie University professors and other teaching staff is expected to release details on Thursday of the tentative agreement reached with the school and results of the ratification vote.
Dalhousie’s administration locked out faculty on Aug. 20, and union members began their strike two days later. In a joint statement on Tuesday, the university and the faculty association confirmed that the nearly month-long labour dispute was over.
Key issues on the bargaining table were increases to wages and to parental leave benefits.聽
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The union had argued that wages have not kept up with inflation. Salaries can vary dramatically across seniority, type of instruction, and department. At the high end, some senior faculty earn roughly $240,000 per year. On the low end, the salary scale for some technology instructors starts around $56,000 per year.
Prior to the lockout, the university had offered a six per cent salary raise over three years, with an increase of two per cent per year. The faculty association countered with an ask of 14.25 per cent over three years.
Meanwhile, Dalhousie student Christopher Park said the university’s initial offer was a “slap in the face” to teachers.聽
鈥淢y tuition went up a lot,鈥 Park, a fourth-year student pursuing an honours bachelor of science in psychology, said on Tuesday. Park says his tuition this year is $62,000, up from $54,000 last year. 鈥淚 can understand the argument of not giving (faculty) exactly what they want, but two per cent?”
Others say the university should be refunding students鈥 tuition for time spent out of class. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not fair for us to pay 100 per cent of our tuition for a semester where we鈥檙e only going to get 80 per cent,鈥 says Rose Silivestru, a law student who runs the DalLockedOut Instagram account, which has posted updates throughout the lockout and strike.聽
In Tuesday’s joint statement with the union, the university said faculty would return to work Thursday if the agreement was ratified. Classes would then be set to resume on Sept 23.聽
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However, additional schedule changes, such as dates of final exams, have not yet been finalized.
鈥淎re we going to have to give up some of our vacation, or add to the end (of the semester)? What鈥檚 going to happen? Are we going to do a big push now to start a course that we鈥檙e halfway into?鈥 asked Johnny Aitchison, a second-year student.
Dalhousie students have planned a sit-in on campus on Thursday to protest for a tuition refund.聽
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025
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