Assistant law prof at UNB lashes out at striking colleagues

An assistant law professor at the University of New Brunswick is slamming her colleagues for going out on strike.

Leah Theriault says professors should respect the right of students to get an education more than their own legal right to strike.

​Theriault says striking professors are acting like children at summer camp.

"They're making buttons. They're having cookies. They're having parties and, you know what? This is a serious issue," she said in a discussion with striking history professor David Frank on CBC's Information Morning Fredericton. 

"And when you need to turn it on, you say, `I'm heartbroken to do this,'" she said. "I don't see heartbreak. I don't see any concern for the students at all," said Theriault.

"I see rhetoric. I see backdoor kind of politicking to the students."

Monday marks the start of the second week of a strike by 550 members of the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers. Classes at the Fredericton and Saint John campuses of the university have been suspended indefinitely due to the strike.

The association is demanding comparable pay to other mid-sized Canadian universities.

The salary ceiling for a professor is currently $151,510. The university administration says 60 per cent of those in the association make more than $100,000 a year.

The association is seeking a pay increase of more than 23 per cent over four years. The university is offering a 9.5 per cent increase over that time.

Theriault said the law forces her to be part of the association and if she could have opted out, she would have.

She is not participating in picket line duty and is not receiving strike pay.

Theriault submitted her resignation to the university last August, effective June 30, 2014. She says she is resigning for "many good reasons."