Striking university staff rally in Prince George
Tiffany Crawford
Vancouver Sun
Professors from across Canada joined hundreds of people rallying in Prince George on Saturday afternoon to support staff on strike at the University of Northern B.C.
UNBC Faculty Association president Jacqueline Holler said teachers had come from as far as Halifax to join the rally at the Prince George courthouse.
About 350 tenured professors, part time instructors, lab instructors and academic librarians have been on strike at the university since Thursday. They have been without a contract since July but both sides are far apart on professors’ salaries.
Holler says they want fair compensation in line with other universities, arguing that UNBC wages are more than 20 per cent less than their counterparts at other universities in the country.
The university is offering five and a half per cent over five years, which the university says it can afford, and is within the provincial government’s Economic Stability Mandate.
Classes have been cancelled at the university since the strike began Thursday. Holler said they will be back at the picket lines again on Monday.
