The University of Manitoba Faculty Association (UMFA) has set a potential strike date for Monday, March 10, according to a press release.

The union representing more than 1,300 professors, instructors and librarians has set a bargaining deadline for Thursday, March 6 at 11:59 p.m., with negotiations scheduled for March 3 and 4.

“What we feel is that this is sort of a last push,” said UMFA president Erik Thomson in an interview with the Manitoban on March 1.

Thomson stated that before the strike authorization vote was held from Feb. 5 to 7, which saw 66 per cent of members vote in favour of a strike, the administration’s bargaining team said “there’s absolutely no more money on the table.”

“Funnily enough, once we held a strike vote, they found more money,” he said. “And they found that there actually was a considerable amount more, which is great. They responded to the seriousness that our members feel about this.”

Since the collective agreement between the university and UMFA expired on March 31, 2024, the parties officially entered the bargaining period in January 2024 with active negotiations since October 2024.

On Feb. 19, the university presented a revised four-year proposal which included adjustments to the maximum salary, such as a $12,000 adjustment to the maximum salary for professor ranks, $3,000 for associate professor and senior instructor ranks and $1,500 for assistant professor, lecturer, Instructor II, Instructor I and librarian ranks.

The revised proposal also included non-monetary offers, such as new language addressing compassionate care leave and new definitions and approaches to in-person and non-in-person course instruction.

Despite the new offerings, the general salary increase proposal of 11.25 per cent over four years remains the same as presented in January.

Thomson stated that some “big issues” still remain unresolved — such as salary, faculty complement and child care.

Thomson previously stated that he would like to see the university own up to their stated goal of bringing salaries up to the 25th percentile amongst Canada’s 15 most research-intensive universities.

“By the end of our offer we’ll be at the 25th percentile now, but of course, things are going to keep going up in that time,” he said. Thomson stated he would like to see members at the 25th percentile for salary at the start of the contract — not near the end.

“They have made progress,” he said, “but we would like to get a little bit ahead.”

Thomson stated that another priority is increasing the faculty complement — the number of faculty positions that the university has budgeted for.

“We’d like to see a bit more hiring of professors,” he said. “We think that’s an important one, because we are a research university so having people that do research in their job is important and two, professors tend to do more of the mentoring of graduate students.”

Childcare is also an issue which Thomson said has not been addressed in the latest offer.

Thomson said UMFA is seeking childcare with an advanced registration possibility for Mini U programs and daycare spaces at the Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses.

“We think that’s particularly important, not only because of the long time that this has been in the collective agreement, but this is a collective agreement that both sides came in with a desire to improve equity at the university,” he said. “We know that maternity and dealing with young kids often adversely affects women professors […] we’d like them to get some help.”

Thomson said that the bargaining deadline provides for a three-day warning that is needed for strike action under the Labour Relations Act.

“We hope the next week is all-in, intensive bargaining, because we’d really like to get this done,” said Thomson. “I’m not saying it’s a little that [the administration] has to do, but that this is a situation where this week is totally adequate to work out the differences between us and I hope they’re ready to do that.”

“Nobody likes going on a strike,” he added. “I hope the administration recognizes that our membership is serious about some of these goals.”

Since being certified by the Manitoba Labour Board as the bargaining agent for full-time academic staff in November of 1974, UMFA has gone on strike four times — in 1995, 2001, 2016 and 2021.