Lecturers’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland Weighs in on Provincial Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2018

Lecturers’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland Weighs in on Provincial Budget

ST. JOHN’S, NL –Members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) who are part of the Lecturers’ Union of Memorial University of Newfoundland (LUMUN) local 90500 are disappointed that the provincial budget presented the same vision of austerity leaving post-secondary institutions and its workers in a dire state.

LUMUN’s local president, Martha Wells, is disappointed that education is not a priority for this government: ‘I can’t comprehend how this government expects the university to function normally when they have to make cut 9 million dollars to the operating budget. Some of our members are the lowest paid contractual university instructors in Atlantic Canada and among the lowest paid in the country. Although they are highly skilled workers and perform critical work, they are underpaid and live below the poverty line.’

In regard to the post-secondary education review, Wells had this to say: ‘We are very wary of the review of post-secondary education. We hope that during this review, the provincial government will notice the need to address the inequity that front-line workers at Memorial face on a daily basis and we certainly expect to be included in the review process.’

The province of Ontario is addressing such inequities by making it mandatory for employers to pay casual, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees, who are doing substantially the same work as full-time/permanent employees, the same rate of pay as full time/permanent employees.  The legislation can be viewed here.

LUMUN represents roughly 1,000 PCIs and about 75 postdoctoral fellows at MUN. Several hundred PCIs teach at MUN every academic year. 

– 30 –

Information and interviews:
Martha Wells, Local President
709.699.8228 | lumuninfo@mun.ca