(Monday, August 18, 2025 – Halifax, NS) – The Dalhousie Board of Governors issued its 48-hour notice to the Minister of Labour this morning, allowing the Board to lockout almost 1000 faculty who are members of the Dalhousie Faculty Association. The lockout could begin any time effective Wednesday, August 20, 2025.
“This move by the Administration is reckless and will damage the reputation of the institution,” notes DFA President David Westwood. “Faculty members can’t apply for research grants, we have to pause our research, students will be second-guessing their decision to come to Dalhousie. A lockout affects every aspect of the teaching and research that happens at Dalhousie.”
Monday, August 11, was the final meeting with provincially-appointed Conciliation Officer Rick Rose to find a tentative agreement between the two sides. The Board tabled their final offer at 10 am on August 11, and then walked away from the meeting at 12 noon without notifying the conciliator. On August 14, DFA held a virtual meeting with its DFA membership to present the Board’s final offer. Immediately following the meeting, DFA launched an e-vote on the offer, with the vote closing Thursday, August 21. The Board was advised of this timeline, yet they still announced a lockout that would occur before the voting is even completed.
“It is important to note that this is a labour disruption initiated by the employer, not by the union,” notes Westwood. “We have been clear all along that our objective is to negotiate at the table. We want to work, and we have a lot of preparations to get ready for the fall term which will not get done if the Board goes ahead with their lockout plan. It is beyond irresponsible for the Board to suggest to students with any confidence that there will be little to no disruption to the Fall semester. By triggering a lockout during preparations for the Fall term, every minute of a lockout translates to a minute of postponement to the start of the Fall term. Whenever this labour disruption is resolved, that lost time will need to be accounted for.”
No other university in the “U15” has ever locked out its faculty. U15 Canada is an association of the 15 leading research universities across the country, of which Dalhousie is a member. “Throughout this entire round of bargaining the Board has been uncharacteristically aggressive in its approach and unwilling to negotiate in any meaningful way on the items of most importance to our members,” notes Westwood. “A lockout would demonstrate their complete lack of respect for our faculty, Dalhousie students, and the bargaining process.”
One key issue remaining on the bargaining table is the Board’s continued reliance on limited-term contracts for long-term continuing teaching needs. Another issue is making sure that wages keep pace with dramatic increases in the cost of living in Nova Scotia, a common issue confronted by every worker in this province.
“DFA is asking for wages that keep up with inflation and make up for 9% loss in real wages we have incurred over the past 10 years,” says Westwood. “We are also fighting to keep full-time jobs from being converted to sessional contracts. If our Members had not pushed back, the Board would have pressed forward with their proposal to make 76 of our Members vulnerable to conversion to sessional contracts.”
Other issues include expanding access to childcare and ensuring workloads are fair and reasonable.
The current agreement between DFA and the Dalhousie Board of Governors expired June 30, 2025. Negotiations began the last week of May, and after only four bargaining meetings, the Board of Governors filed for conciliation on June 2. One more bargaining meeting was held June 20, and then Rick Rose was appointed as the conciliation officer on June 23. Three conciliation meetings were held in July and the Board walked away from conciliation prematurely. Rose filed his report on June 28, triggering a 14-day waiting period which ended August 11.
In June, 85.5% of the DFA membership participated in a strike vote. Of those, 91.2% voted in favour of going on strike if an acceptable deal could not be reached. Now that the Board has presented its final offer, the DFA will meet with its full membership to review the final offer on the table. Members are currently voting on the Board’s most recent offer. The vote closes end of day Thursday, August 21. DFA’s Bargaining Bulletins can be found here.
About DFA
The DFA is the certified bargaining agent for almost 1,000 professors, instructors, librarians and professional counsellors at Dalhousie University. As a volunteer-based organization, we advocate for the rights of our members and work to protect and advance the academic integrity of the University.
To arrange an interview with DFA President David Westwood: email DFA Communications Officer Catherine.Wall@dal.ca