ASTFA

Atlantic School of Theology Faculty Association

Sixth Collective Agreement Ratified

By ,

A sixth collective agreement between AST’s Board of Governors and the AST Faculty Association has been ratified by both parties. ASTFA ratified the tentative agreement on July 4, and the Board on August 28, 2025. Both sides expect to sign the agreement in September.

New terms in the sixth agreement include:

  1. historic wage gains of 9.25% over 3 years. These gains are in line with recent settlements across the sector and begin to close the gap between ASTFA pay scales and those at other universities.
  2. a new, permanent MOU that commits the Board to providing ASTFA with quarterly updates on university fundraising and advancement activities, with guaranteed yearly consultation.
  3. a 40% increase to overload compensation ($5000 to $7000) per overload course. This gain also eliminates a pay differential for non-permanent faculty and should, as a matter of university policy, be extended to all sessional instructors.
  4. seniority protections in the agreement for the first time.
  5. two levels of complement protection: permanent, strong language directly in the agreement which also obligates the Board to hire within 9 months any time complement falls below this threshold; and a LOU which sets a higher complement protection (7) that will preclude the Board, for the life of this collective agreement, from any further cuts in the event of retirements or departures.
  6. the removal of some previous language that was liable to cause friction between union members and university administrators.
  7. new definition and clarity about faculty roles in contextual education.
  8. increases to annual health spending accounts ($500 to $1,000) and fitness allowances ($300 to $500), extended by university policy to all AST employees.

Agreed documents (final but unsigned) are available for download here.

Negotiations went to the eleventh hour. A tentative agreement was reached after 11:30 p.m. on June 30, less than thirty minutes before a work stoppage would have begun if the parties had not reached a bargain that night.

Discussion of how to secure a new contract began in November 2024, when members from both parties sat down with representatives from the Province of Nova Scotia’s Conciliation and Mediation Services (CMS) to talk about different approaches to bargaining. Notice of intent to bargain was sent and acknowledged in January 2025, and formal contract talks began in February.

By mid-April, after several sessions at the bargaining table, both parties recognized that they were at an impasse. They filed a joint request for Conciliation Services from CMS, in accordance with Nova Scotia law, and were duly appointed a Conciliation Officer.

After a full day of conciliation in early June, the conciliator affirmed that AST and ASTFA were at an impasse. A final day of mediated talks was set for June 30, the last day before the parties were expected to be in a legal position to take job action (strike or lockout).

On June 13, ASTFA notified the Board and Student Union that it was, with 90% backing from its membership, prepared to take strike action on July 1. On June 27, ASTFA notified the Province and the Board that, unless the Faculty Union and Board were able reach an agreement on Monday, June 30, ASTFA would commence a strike at 12:01 a.m. on July 1.

The tentative bargain struck at around 11:35 p.m. the night before averted that outcome. Instead, by 8:30 a.m. on Canada Day, three members of ASTFA’s bargaining team were back at work on AST’s campus, doing their part to deliver the summer term. Two professors joined students in their scheduled courses, and a professional librarian helped staff the circulation desk.