Moncton, February 24, 2017 – The Université de Moncton Faculty Association (Association des bibliothécaires, des professeures et des professeurs de l’Université de Moncton – ABPPUM), regrets the refusal of the University President Raymond Théberge to honour a letter of agreement, signed in December 2015, guaranteeing wage parity with their New Brunswick Anglophone counterparts for faculty members.
A round of conciliation meetings has concluded with President Théberge offering a 3.2% pay increase, which covers merely half of the parity gap estimated during negotiations. Moreover, he proposes to further weaken the existing labour contract by eliminating the recognition of prior work experience when determining starting salaries for newly hired faculty members.
The Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour has appointed a mediator; ABPPUM is looking forward to working with her to find a solution in order to honour the letter of agreement signed in December 2015, which obliges the two parties to find a means to reach wage parity while negotiating faculty salary increases for the July 2016 to June 2018 period.
Since its strike in 2000, the Université de Moncton Faculty has been struggling to be treated as the equals of their Anglophone counterparts. ABPPUM is very disappointed with President Théberge who is refusing to redress an unfair situation for the Francophones of New Brunswick by reducing the proposed pay increase such that parity with Anglophone faculty cannot be achieved.
