Academic Staff Members (ASMs) at Memorial University have worked without a collective salary increase since 2016. In essence, this means that ASMs have actually faced a pay cut over that time having not kept pace with inflation and rising living costs. A conservative estimate puts this pay cut between 2017 and 2022 at 5%. This is an issue affecting all workers, and it is one that will only become more urgent as inflation has reached highs not seen in decades. As MUNFA continues to bargain for a new Collective Agreement with the employer, salary increases that reflect the reality of stagnating wages and soaring inflation are a top priority for the bargaining team.
Additionally, pay for ASMs at Memorial University lags far behind that of comparable universities across Canada. Mean salaries for Faculty at Memorial place us 14th out of the 15 universities the Parties have previously considered to be in our national peer-group (which is comprised of Dalhousie, UNB, Concordia, Brock, Carleton, Guelph, Ryerson, Wilfred Laurier, Windsor, York, Regina, University of Northern BC, Simon Fraser, and Victoria). Our salaries fall short of the average for these other universities by 15% at the rank of Full Professor, 17% at the rank of Associate Professor, and 11% at the rank of Assistant Professor. With gaps this large, it is, and will only become more, difficult to attract and retain skilled academics from across the country and around the world — which is a necessity for any university to flourish, and for Memorial to fulfil its role within the province.
MUNFA’s negotiating committee continues to fight at the bargaining table for a better deal for all of us, but this will be successful only if you take action to show the university that MUNFA members stand united. Write to President Vianne Timmons (munpres@mun.ca), Director of Faculty Relations, Geoff Williams (geoffwilliams@mun.ca), and the Vice-President Academic, Margaret Steele (vpacad@mun.ca) to make it clear that ASMs want to see adequate pay increases. We ask that you copy MUNFA (membership.munfa@mun.ca) on this call to action. Ask one coworker to write a similar letter. And watch out for upcoming actions to show the university our collective power.
In solidarity,
MUNFA’s Negotiating Committee:
- Jon Church, Medicine (Co-Lead Negotiator)
- Nicole Power, Sociology (Co-Lead Negotiator)
- Dan Duda, QE II Library
- Patrick Gamsby, QE II Library
- John Hoben, Education
- Nathalie Pender, Grenfell Campus
- Janna Rosales, Engineering & Applied Science
- Ken Snelgrove, Engineering & Applied Science
- Erwin Warkentin, Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
- Travis Perry, MUNFA Labour Relations Officer (non-voting member)
- Dale Humphries, MUNFA Labour Relations Coordinator (non-voting member)
