Strike at my uni

Hey dears,

For the first i came close into witnessing a "real" strike like i mean an actual strike take place not like just hearing news about it from the media.

Thank goodness, there was no strike at U of M-University of Manitoba in October 22 2013. I still remember how much i wanted Monday midnight(Oct 21) to come quick, so that i know whether the two sides got into an agreement or not. At around 11pm, an email came in stating "There will be no strike.Classes continue".

I'll simply summarise the details of the strike. Our professors, members of the University of Manitoba Faculty Association(UMFA) wanted the University of Manitoba-admistration to provide their needs on certain issues in the renewal of the collective agreement. Those issues are as stated below:

-academic freedom
-perfomance management
-publications
-rights to comment on the University

The main issue was not money here. I think, thats why it was even harder to come up with an agreement to prevent a work stoppage. If it was money, then negotiations between the two sides would have resolved the whole issue without bringing in a third party. Thats my thinking....So, this bargaining had started in June 21 without reaching any agreement until Oct 21.
At first, the conciliation process did not succeed between the parties so a mediator had to be brought to continue the negotiation. Then, most issues were resolved and the rest were going to remain arbitrated so thats how a strike did not take place.

So my opinion about the whole strike issue....I was quite impressed with how the U of M admin. tried to avoid any interruptions to our learning by bringing in conciliation. Again, they had no choice but to try all means to stop a strike from happening. The only way was to come into an agreement by meeting the demands of UMFA. In addition, students were kept up to date about the process from day 1 which is also the best thing to do during a situation like this. Communication is key.

I was soo keen about the whole strike incident. I thought to myself "Yay! im gonna have a free mid-sem week off! Yes!" then at the same time i was like "I dont want any disruption to my academic year since im trying to make this my last undergrad year so please, let there be no strike". Imagine going through such confusing thoughts. Anyways so that was me a few weeks back.

November is here! school got even tougher, filled in with assignments, tests and quizes! not forgetting to attend lectures on a daily basis.

I wish you a lovely November,
Zita