Strike at Western University averted, classes go on
CBC
A tentative agreement has been reached between the union representing faculty members at Western University and the school, averting a strike that was scheduled to begin Tuesday if a deal couldn't be struck.
Both sides announced the tentative agreement late Monday night in advance of an 11:59 p.m. strike deadline set by the UWO Faculty Association.
Western University says the deal means it's classes as usual Tuesday.
"UWOFA members and Western's Board of Governors will soon vote on whether to ratify the agreement," Western said in a tweet on Monday night.
Details of the tentative agreement have not been released.
In a tweet to its members, the union said "your support of UWOFA's negotiating team, along with strong strike preparedness, has paid off in allowing us to reach a tentative deal with the employer, and avert the need for strike action."
The union said on Monday that picketing would begin Tuesday morning if a deal had not been reached for its 1,800 full-time and part-time faculty members and 50 librarians and archivists.
More than 32,000 full-time students would have been impacted by a strike.
More than 90 per cent of UWOFA members voted in favour of strike action "if necessary" in September. The union's previous collective agreement expired on June 30.
Faculty at Western's affiliated universities are represented by different unions, which include King's University Faculty Association, Brescia Faculty Association and Huron University College Faculty Association.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.