While Carleton faculty will vote Oct. 4-5 about a possible strike, their counterparts at the University of Western Ontario head to the polls Oct. 1.

However, Western Faculty Association president James Compton said it is too early for students to get angry. “Strike votes are very common,” Compton said. “We’ve had three strike votes over the years here, and in each case we helped bring about a resolution.”  

He said while he anticipates a favourable vote result, he does not expect an actual strike.

Helen Connell, associate vice-president (communications and public affairs) at Western, agreed: “We don’t have any reason to see there will not be reasonable agreement with the two sides.”

Compton said in order to be in a legal strike position, a strike vote would have to pass and a “no-board report” would have to be filed with the Ontario Ministry of Labour.

A no-board report is filed when the university and faculty union are unable to reach a collective agreement, Compton explained.

Seventeen days following a no-board report, the university is legally able to lock out the faculty and the faculty is legally able to strike. This means a strike is not always likely, Compton said.

“A strike vote does mean that pressure gets ramped up and that is done as a way of trying to speed up negotiations and resolve it as quickly as possible,” Compton said.

Johannes Wolfart, president of the Carleton University Academic Staff Association (CUASA), said he couldn’t say whether a strike at Carleton is likely.
Wolfart said the issues at Western are similar to those at Carleton and he expects “strong strike mandates” from both.

Wolfart said he hopes  an agreement is reached soon, but the university has not responded to a “single one of our proposals.”

“All of these things can be handled well or not so well,” he said. “It’s way beyond my control.”

Western talks are on hiatus until Oct. 5, Compton said. Wolfart said Carleton talks are ongoing.

Derek Wong, a fourth-year biochemistry student at Western, said he thinks it is “irresponsible and self-serving” of professors to strike during the academic year.

“We wouldn’t be able to go to school and unlike in elementary school, when a teachers’ strike was the best thing ever, this would suck.”