The University of Manitoba Faculty Association is holding an information picket Friday in front of the university’s administration building on the Fort Garry campus.
The union is inviting its membership to bring a lunch, coffee and noisemakers to the event.
Meanwhile, UMFA president Mark Hudson used social media to reach the university’s student body and explain the possibility of a strike.
UMFA has been in negotiations with the administration since May.
The UMFA membership, which includes professors, instructors and librarians, voted 85.6 percent in favour of a strike.
In message to students posted on social media, Hudson said the administration has not addressed UMFA’s concerns about, “the direction and integrity of the university.”
“Surveys show that academics already work about 60 hours a week. We enjoy our work, but as more and more of it – especially administrative tasks, but also more and larger classes – is heaped up, we have less time to dedicate to each student.”
“We want the time required to teach well, to engage with students in discussion and debate, and to share our ideas and hear yours. That’s what we are bargaining for: limits on the extent to which our workloads can be unilaterally increased,” he said.
Hudson said another issue is the way in which faculty members are evaluated for things like tenure, or promotion, or how much of the budget programs receive.
