The professors of the University of Quebec in Rimouski (UQAR), who are in negotiations for the renewal of their collective agreement, will be on strike next Tuesday morning and do not rule out the scenario of a more prolonged strike if the he university remains “limited”.
“There was a settlement at Université Laval following several weeks of strike, and we want to show them that we are able, and that we have the determination, to go towards a scenario like that if the employer does not don’t sit at the table in a serious way. But we would like to avoid going there, ”said Marc-Denis Rioux, president of the Union of Professors and Professors of UQAR. “We have watered down our wine in a significant way, in several places. And the university refused to budge one iota,” he insists.
During a general assembly on January 25, the teachers gave themselves 94% of strike days to use. Two-thirds of the faculty were present. A meeting of the bargaining table is scheduled for Tuesday, hence the idea of going on strike at this time. “We hope that the employer will take note of what happened at Laval University, and the settlement that was agreed there,” says Marc-Denis Rioux.
The union claims that UQAR has accumulated a surplus of $18 million in recent years and believes that the university has the financial resources to improve the conditions of professors. “We have a gap with comparable universities such as Chicoutimi or Abitibi-Témiscamingue,” says the president, who fears that UQAR will turn into a “second-class university.” “People are exhausted, they don’t have recognition for what they do, they are tired,” he insists.
The management of UQAR did not wish to grant an interview on the subject. In a written statement, the latter stresses that it does not comment on the negotiations in progress in the public square. UQAR says it is “confident that the conciliation process that has begun will lead to an outcome that will suit the parties” and affirms that “the data conveyed does not give a fair portrait of the financial situation of the University and is sorry about this”.
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