Students in the woodshop at NSCAD University. Photo: Facebook / NSCAD.
The strike is over at NSCAD University, but labour issues are still unresolved. Teachers have returned to work as of 12 noon Atlantic Time today, with outstanding issues being addressed in mediation/arbitration.
This much is indicated by information posted publicly last night by both the Faculty Union of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (FUNSCAD) and the NSCAD University administration.
NSCAD University administration’s most recent memo to the community has also indicated that the arbitration and mediation is being led by William Kaplan.
Online sources indicate that Kaplan is a Toronto lawyer who was once a faculty member at the University of Ottawa. He has dealt with post-secondary labour disputes in various ways in the past.
In recent months, Kaplan arbitrated a decision around instructor workloads at Carleton University, and also a decision around dismissal of a University of Ottawa professor. He also chaired an arbitration board last year that ended a four-year dispute between Ontario doctors and the provincial government. In 2017, Kaplan also arbitrated a labour dispute between faculty of Ontario’s public colleges and the colleges’ administrations that saw a five-week strike affecting half a million students. He is author of the book Why Dissent Matters.
Roughly 95 NSCAD Faculty Union members went on strike on March 1 following several months of negotiation, and multiple weeks of conciliation, toward a new contract. The strike caused concern among many students and community members. On March 8, MFA students at NSCAD also staged a sit-in in the university president’s office demanding action on faculty concerns.
