Acadia to pay students for classes lost to faculty strike

Acadia University in Wolfville, N.S., has announced a payment for students who lost time in class during the month-long faculty strike earlier this year.

A one-time payment of $600 for domestic students and $700 for international students has been offered.  

Students missed class from Feb. 1 to March 3 due to the strike, but were still paying full tuition for the semester.

"Throughout the course of the strike, students made it very clear that some form of financial compensation acknowledging the impacts of the strike was among their top priorities," Acadia Students' Union executive member Megan Cyr said in a news release Thursday.

After the strike, the students' union made a number of proposals to the university's administration.

The union said although there are few instances in Canada where compensation has been provided to students following a strike, Acadia did provide a similar one-time payment following the 18-day faculty strike in October 2007. Domestic students and international students received $275 and $375, respectively.   

"Our greatest priority has been ensuring that any savings that the university incurred over the course of the strike were directly returned to students," said student's union president Georgia Saleski. 

The union advocated for international students to receive a higher payout due to higher expenses they face.

The strike

Classes halted on Feb. 1 when the Acadia faculty union went on strike after rejecting the last contract offer from the school.

Improving faculty diversity, strengthening rights and benefits for part-time staff, and increasing salaries for faculty and staff where among the demands of the striking union.

On March 1, the union announced its members would be returning to work after mediation efforts failed and the union agreed to arbitration.