The Nipissing University Student Union is asking professors not to strike again if a contract agreement with the University isn't ratified this week.
A news release from the group say it wants professors to either "ratify the tentative agreement or continue the bargaining process without risking further damage to the welfare of the students".
NUSU is seeking this public commitment in response to the growing demands of students for certainty in moving forward with Academic Relief measures, the release continues.
“Although we are certainly not asking NUFA to publicly commit to ratifying an agreement without the input of its membership, we are asking NUFA to publicly commit to avoiding the use of strike action for the remainder of the Academic year,” said Jordan Andrews, VP Internal of NUSU.
Students have tentatively lost one week of Christmas break, their Winter reading week, and have been scheduled to attend six Saturday classes throughout the remainder of the Academic year. Academic relief may be on the way as NUSU is preparing to present motions to mitigate the damage experienced by students going forward.
Sarah McGowan, NUSU Director of Communications told BayToday that there are mental health implications especially for nursing students.
"All the way through the strike they had to go to classes in a collaborative program with Canadore and they haven't really had a break. When it comes to reading week as a whole, when it comes to mental health, it shows us that there are already a lot of students that are finding it hard and are already overwhelmed by this.
"They are coming back from a very tense four week strike. Now all this work is being dumped onto them and they are finding it really hard dealing with the pressure, plus they want to go home and see their families but that's being cut short as well," she said.
Meanwhile Ian Hall, President of NUSU says, “The Academic Relief motions we are putting forward depend upon no further disruption to the Academic year. The consequences of any more lost classes are is incalculable in terms of both damage to the students attending Nipissing University and the institution’s future.”
“Academic Relief cannot be guaranteed without knowing whether Faculty could be back out of the classroom and on the picket line. We respect the bargaining process, but for the sake of the students and their mental, emotional and financial well-being, we are seeking a public commitment from NUFA that they will avoid future strike action,” explained Andrews.
Faculty have until 7 p.m. tomorrow to ratify the agreement.
Susan Srigley, Nipissing University Faculty Association (NUFA) told BayToday that, "The tentative agreement is currently going through the ratification process and we will have the results of that process on Wednesday evening."
Srigley says the faculty will issue a new release Wednesday night after the vote is counted.
