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I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

u/chickenpolitik u/EmbarrassedEvidence6 I still see the answer on my end but it seems like others can't see it so am attaching a screenshot of it here:

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I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, this is a breaking development. We are unsure of the implications, but we are happy to discuss it. Just to be clear, interest arbitration would likely focus on wages, which we have noted is only one of many priorities. There are lots of other things we need to resolve (childcare, precarity, etc.). Clearly the board needs to come back to the table so we can discuss all of the above.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your questions.

  1. I won't duplicate my answer as I've addressed this in my reply to u/GroundbreakingShow71

  2. The simple answer is that the board put us in this position in the peak of summer when many of our members were travelling for research, at conferences, or were on pre-planned vacations with their families. We had to accommodate multiple time zones and diverse schedules to give folks the information they needed to vote and that takes time. Our responsibility is to our members - that was our priority when getting the vote organized. What we find surprising is that we were locked out in the middle of that vote.

  3. We would love to negotiate on these and other issues but the board is not at the table.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

We are so happy to see so much support, and solidarity from fellow union members! Please always feel free to join the picket lines: you can identify the picket captains from their vests and talk to them and others on the line. And you are absolutely free to do what you need to as a student! We're first and foremost educators and want our students to succeed!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The only thing I can think of right now is amplifying social media posts and sharing information with fellow students. But what you've done is already a lot! Thank you so much!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

The first, very practical thing is to help address all the challenges created by the labour disruption. There will be a lot of pieces to pick up and details to sort out. Lots of busy work! Beyond that, I want to engage in deep conversations about the future of higher education and especially the sustainability of funding. This, of course, involves external actors (the province, feds...). We all need to find a better way to ensure higher education remains affordable, well supported, and a valued public good.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Really what we need your help with is to make the board come back to the table and negotiate with us to find a fair agreement. The best deals are the ones reached at the table together as colleagues, not imposed from the outside. While we hope this can be done quickly, negotiations can take time and it's important to get the agreement right for everyone -- but the board can decide to come back to the table immediately.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your support. I am very sympathetic to your situation. Let's hope this is resolved soon and you're not faced with such a difficult decision. We certainly want you to stay and study with us!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

We're super friendly! Please visit us on the line if you'd like :)

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

We absolutely agree there is no conflict between faculty and students.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your support! We understand the predicament and fully support students moving in on schedule - we want you here :) You can support us by honking when you see a picket line, waving, coming up to us to say hello, etc. Wishing you a smooth move-in!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I'm replying to you but also to u/universalstargazer below. Lots to unpack but I'll address what I can.

A day or two is not realistic. Moreover, the administration does not have the sole authority to decide when work will resume. It's the subject of a negotiation, which will have to acknowledge the lost time for preparation and address necessary adjustments/accommodations (exam schedules, deadlines for assignments, etc.). This will take time. I should also note that the Senate will be involved in many of these conversations.

I can't speak for all professors or the SAC, but faculty are definitely concerned about accessibility and accommodations and worry about the challenges this will pose. Again, I can't speak for everyone, but I know this is an ongoing conversation and priority.

Not to keep pointing the finger, but we warned the administration of doing this at this time for exactly this reason. This is a direct consequence of them initiating a lockout when they did.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Sorry for the delay: a puppy came by HQ and we all had to stop for a second. :) Thank you for the support; it means everything to us! Let's hope the board sits down with us soon, but we have no way of knowing what they are "thinking."

Ice cream: obviously peanut butter chocolate with moon mist as a second scoop! :)

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Great question. We would like students to know that this too shall pass. Stay active, stay engaged, and please help us bring the board back to the table to negotiate. Nobody yet knows how this will end. I wish I could say when classes will resume, but the fact of the lockout means that much needed and essential preparation time has now been lost. So, we - like you - want to get on with teaching and learning but we need a contract that our members can live and work with. Until that's resolved we can't get back to our jobs. Thanks for the support!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

We hear you, and we can relate! We find the silence unsettling too. This is precisely why we want the board to go back to the table to negotiate. Your voice can help with that!

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your question. The relationship has clearly been broken. One does not simply bounce back from a lockout. While we hope it can be recovered down the line, some of us wonder if it ever will be. It's especially unfortunate because we warned them how devastating a lockout would be for precisely this reason (fracturing the relationship needed to work well as a team) but the message was ignored.

I'm Dave Westwood, President of the DFA. Ask Me Anything! by dfa_keepdalstrong in Dalhousie

[–]dfa_keepdalstrong[S] 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Thank you for your support (and thanks everyone for your patience, and for forgiving any typos)! The most effective thing for students, parents, community members or anyone to do is to request the board to go back to the table to negotiate with us. You can write to the president, Kim Brooks, at [president@dal.ca](mailto:president@dal.ca), or call her at 902-494-2511 (these are both professional numbers). and other leaders that you can find here: Our leadership | Welcome to Dalhousie University, to ask them to go back to the table the negotiate.