Tentative Contract Deal Reached Three Weeks After Faculty Went on Strike at UPEI

Faculty members at the University of Prince Edward Island walked off the job Mar. 20, 2023, after a strike deadline passed. The Canadian Press/Brian McInnis

A tentative contract deal has been reached between the University of Prince Edward Island and striking members of its faculty association.

About 400 professors, librarians, sessional instructors and other members of the academic community walked off the job on March 20.

The association announced the tentative deal today on Twitter but did not release details.

The union was pushing the university to increase wages, hire more full-time staff and deal with workload and health-and-safety issues.

Earlier this week, association president Michael Arfken issued a statement saying the union’s membership had rejected the university’s offer to settle the dispute through binding arbitration.

Arfken said arbitration would not have addressed the union’s major concerns.

The strike marked the third labour dispute at a university in Atlantic Canada since January.

Faculty at Cape Breton University in Sydney, N.S., and Memorial University in Newfoundland and Labrador went on strike at the end of January; both reached settlements with their administrations in February.