N.S. news: College faculty, staff approve new agreements [Video]

Nova Scotia Community College faculty and support staff voted to approve new collective agreements on Thursday, officially avoiding a potential strike.

According to a news release from the Atlantic Academic Union, which represents 1,081 NSCC workers, 86 per cent of faculty and 91 per cent of professional support staff voted to accept the new contracts. The total voter turnout was 88 per cent.

“We have much more work to do in the coming months as we bring all aspects of this agreement to life to improve the working environments of our members,” said Susan Thompson Graham, lead negotiator for the Atlantic Academic Union. “These collective agreements made over 70 improvements in language to key areas of workload, discrimination and harassment in the workplace, professional development, and probationary periods to name a few.”

The release says the agreements provide seven per cent economic increases and other monetary recognition equivalent to roughly two per cent.

The union and NSCC reached an agreement after several meetings …