This is the dedicated section of the Saint Mary's University website for updates on labour relations between the university and its bargaining units.
Saint Mary's University provides an excellent environment for research, teaching and learning, and working for our faculty, students and staff. The university administration understands that faculty and staff are critical pillars of the university and vital to our mission and ability to create, share, and disseminate knowledge to the world.
Saint Mary's is committed to providing competitive terms and compensation for faculty and staff while ensuring the institution's sustainability. The university administration respects the collective bargaining process and is committed to coming to timely agreements.
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Thursday, July 31, 2025
The university is currently actively bargaining with 4 of the 5 bargaining units. Specific details with respect to the progress at each table follows.
Active Bargaining: CUPE 3912 – Part Time Faculty
The university has been actively bargaining with CUPE 3912 Part-Time Faculty. The current collective agreement expired on August 31, 2024. Though negotiations at the bargaining table were proceeding, with a number of proposals agreed to by the parties and future bargaining dates scheduled, CUPE 3912 Part-Time Faculty notified the university on June 20, 2025, that it had made a decision to file for conciliation, citing an impasse. Conciliation, a mediated process using a facilitator approved by both parties, will take place in the coming weeks. The university is committed to concluding bargaining at the table with a collective agreement.
Active Bargaining: CUPE 3912 – Teaching Assistants
The university has been actively bargaining with CUPE 3912 Teaching Assistants since receiving notice to bargain following the certification of this bargaining unit. This collective agreement will be the first agreement between the university and this new bargaining unit.
Though the parties had been making progress at the table, with agreement on several proposals and future bargaining dates scheduled, CUPE 3912 Teaching Assistants informed the university on May 29, 2025, that it had filed for conciliation.
The university met with the conciliator and CUPE 3912 Teaching Assistants on July 25 and 28, 2025. The parties continue to make progress with agreement on several proposals resulting from these two recent bargaining sessions with the conciliator. Future dates have been scheduled with the conciliator and CUPE 3912 Teaching Assistants. The university is committed to concluding bargaining at the table with a collective agreement.
Active Bargaining: CUPE Local 4491-Trades
The university received notice to bargain and is currently actively bargaining with CUPE Local 4491. The current collective agreement expired on June 30, 2025. The parties have been working on scheduling future collective bargaining dates. The university is committed to concluding bargaining at the table with a collective agreement.
Active Bargaining: Saint Mary’s University Full-time Faculty
The university has received notice to bargain with the Saint Mary’s University Full-time Faculty (SMUFU) and is currently actively bargaining with the union. The current collective agreement expires on August 31, 2025. The parties met to initiate this period of collective bargaining on July 11, 2025. Additional dates have been scheduled for September 2025. The university is committed to concluding bargaining at the table with a collective agreement.