Students at all Vancouver Island University (VIU) campuses returned to classes on Tuesday, April 12 after over a month of labour disputes between the university and Vancouver Island University Faculty Association (VIUFA).
Classes will run until April 29 and summer classes will run as scheduled.
The two parties agreed to a return to classes after the appointment of Mark Brown as special mediator, said the ministry of labour, citizens’ services and open government in a press release. Brown is a private mediator and arbitrator who will work with the two sides for 30 days to resolve issues still on the table. If no agreement is reached in that time then Brown will issue “non-binding recommendations to end the dispute,” which both sides will then have 10 days to accept or reject.
Talks broke down between the two parties on April 6 leaving two main issues on the table without agreement. VIUFA still wanted to make VIU go through a committee of a management appointee, a VIUFA appointee and an independent third person before being able to create new administrative positions. They also wanted any management positions to be open to those laid off from faculty positions in order to mitigate the loss of work.
