After more than three months of deliberations, McGill University has reached an agreement with striking support staff.
The McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA), who had been without contract since November 2010, ratified the agreement and returned to work Dec. 6, according to the association’s website.
MUNACA, which represents 1,700 workers, went on strike Sept. 1.
Their members were striking in order to achieve wage parity with other Ontario universities, as well as pension protection, and the implementation of a fair wage scale, according their website.
The strike caused a new rift on campus, MUNACA president Kevin Whittaker told the Montreal Gazette.
“There is a new realization about the administration now,” he said. “It will take time to heal, but time does heal all wounds.”
MUNACA is also unhappy with the McGill Association of University Teachers (MAUT) for filling in on the jobs they were boycotting, according to their website.
Accusations were made Sept. 23 when a Quebec Labour Department inspector filed a public report detailing that 15 of 110 workers were not eligible replacements for the more than 1,600 support staff on strike.
“The easier MAUT makes it for the university to carry on its functions, the longer our strike will last,” the press release stated.
One point of the agreement was a 13-16 per cent pay increase over five years, and wage parity by 2015, the MUNACA website stated.
This would allow workers to achieve their full pay rate within 12 years, instead of the previous 36.