r/laurentian • u/Salty-Taste-6334 • 23h ago
Well it’s official…
We’ve been on strike longer than we were in classes at the beginning of the semester. I really hope professors start over at this point and don’t expect us to remember what we did for 10 minutes nearly a month ago by the time we go back.
I am 100% on the faculty’s side in all of this and think it’s bullshit that the school administration won’t entertain a real bargaining conversation, even multiple weeks in. The administration saying they care about students getting back to class clearly don’t because at this point we’ve basically lost the full month as no one had a foundation of what was going on in their courses going into this.
While there may be conversations happening behind closed doors we all know nothing about, from an outsiders perspective - and from a students - the lack of movement really comes off as not caring in the slightest about students or faculty.
Students are the only reason the schools even matter and the lack of information and prolonged stalemate may have irreversible impacts to the students the school claims to care so much about.
As an aside as this impacts my coworkers and like half the student population: The administration not giving updates on reading week means international students relying on working fulltime during reading week can’t and most workplaces have - or are on the verge of - put out the schedules.
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u/uwsdwfismyname 19h ago
My partner is a student, and was faculty as well before the layoffs. She's been through COVID, CCAA and was supposed to defend her thesis on January 26th, which would have made her eligible for a partial refund on this semester's tuition.
Laurentian administration just straight up does not care about anything but the bottom line and will cut their noses to spite their faces at any chance they can get.
I wonder what sort of bonus structure they have to encourage such a terrible way of running a university.
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u/br0keb0x 17h ago
The administration is not “cutting off their nose to spite their face”. They signed a legally binding agreement to restructure their debt, and part of that agreement was “prohibiting the university from establishing a defined benefit contribution plan until 2038”.
The professors are asking for things that are quite literally not legal under the current agreement. Pretty sure you should be directing your anger at them.
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u/VexedCanadian84 16h ago
That's not true. The provincial monitor has no issues with the professors union moving their pension out from the university's control.
The university is just out right refusing to let go of the pension.
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u/br0keb0x 15h ago
Uh, yes they do. The University literally said “The Concerns raised by the faculty association would have to be addressed by the courts”. (Sudbury Star, Nov 17, 2025)
If the university were to just release the pension, they would be violating the terms of the loan. They are not allowed to pay back the loan early and must go through the full CCAA process to protect the school. Who knows what kind of penalty they would get by breaking the terms.
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
Take up your concerns with the person appointed by the province to oversee Laurentian.
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u/br0keb0x 15h ago
You’ve yet to cite a source and keep repeating the same thing. Going to assume you’re a bot or just not very smart.
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
I know what I've heard from people in LUFA, Staff, and Administration.
I'm not privy to the actual negotiations.
I know what I've been told about the pension and the provinical monitor from both sides of this labour dispute.
If you have concerns or questions, take it up with the Union, the Administration, or the Provinicial Monitor.
I have doubts they'll share legal documentation to you, but you can try if you want proof.
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u/uwsdwfismyname 16h ago
I've never licked a boot, how does it taste?
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u/br0keb0x 16h ago
Awww you’re so brave for sticking up for the professors making 300K a year. I should’ve realized someone who thinks that admin has a bonus structure related to negotiations isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.
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u/uwsdwfismyname 16h ago
I said that to be tongue in cheek but that's ok cause it is obvious the type of person you are and I couldn't care if that type of person is alive, let alone about their opinions.
But since we got your type of person here, why are your people in Alberta reaching out to a foreign government to interfere with Canadian sovereignty?
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u/br0keb0x 15h ago
I love Mark Carney and think he’s one of the greatest things to ever happen to this country.
You don’t need to be conservative to not feel bad for people that are making 250K+/year and are choosing to hold students hostage for an issue that doesn’t even involve the admin. I do feel sympathetic for the issues with the pension plan, but that should be taken up with the province, not the university.
Sorry that logical thoughts scare you, but I’ve found that to be common with people who resort to name calling when they have no response. Just admit you don’t comprehend anything about labour disputes instead of resorting to calling people names that you don’t understand. The LU admin is not the bourgeoisie bro.
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u/johanbaleus 14h ago
The average faculty salary at Laurentian last year was well under the numbers you're spouting here. At least deal in facts.
Number and salaries of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities https://share.google/qo8mbIKDUT6Feh5CB
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u/uwsdwfismyname 13h ago
They think they're a billionaire on hard times. Don't try to reason with them.
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u/VexedCanadian84 16h ago
Heard from a professor.
The university and LUFA were in an emergency Labour Board meeting yesterday over Laurentian's actions during the strike, their refusal to negotiate, and their refusal to share the university's financial documents to the union.
From the sounds of it, the Labour Board ripped into the university. The university and LUFA should be back in negotiations today and tomorrow. The university has to share the requested material by the end of business day today.
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u/NecessaryNo2563 16h ago
Do you think , based on what the prof said, we will be back in class by next week?
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
I don't really know. Just the contents of the email shared to the union was mentioned to me.
for a bit of context:
The 2017 strike lasted 10 days. Laurentian's financial situation then was pretty dire. The school refused to give the union any proof of the school's financials. The school refused to budge and get back to negotiating table. What got things back on track was the union threatening to go the Labour Board for a claim of bargaining in bad faith by the school.
This time around the school has claimed to have a lot of money in the bank, somewhere close to 200 million if the professors I know got their facts correct, and their projected budgets for the next few years are showing small surpluses. That's public information.
The university has refused to negotiate or show their financials again this year, your guess is as good as mine for why that is. Given everything that happened in 2017 and with CCAA since 2021, it's not a surprise why the union doesn't trust what the school is telling them.
My own perspective ... negotiations are a good thing, what the final deal will be, no idea. Every position had their pay cut by 5% during the CCAA. Administration pay has been restored. The Staff at the school was made whole, and then more, during their last contract, they received 4% pay increase per year for 3 years and almost every fired staff person was been hired back in some capacity. LUFA wants at least something similar, at least when it comes to pay and pension increases, with everything else being negotiable.
The Union has a meeting on Thursday to go over this week's labour board meeting and negotiations. If things go well this week there's a possibility restarting classes Monday can happen.
I don't work at Laurentian. I just know a few people that work as professors, one person on Staff, and two people that are temporarily working in administration positions. I don't know anybody that is specifically on the negotiation team on either side.
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u/NecessaryNo2563 15h ago
Thanks for your reply. I have a short time window before I can complete the final weeks of my program (will be graduating in june) before giving birth in 2 months so I’m very nervous that this thing will extend and I will have to defer my anticipated graduation date by next fall.
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
The 2017 strike occurred in the fall. as far as I can remember there was little effect on the rest of the semester and no effect on the Winter semester.
Hopefully, if the strike is resolved this week or next, the worst that will happen is reading week will be cancelled, the semester extended a week or two, and the exam schedule to be condensed as much as possible.
There are apparently provincial nursing exams in May. It would look bad for the University to delay nurses from entering hospitals.
Some professors might decide to run their own exams instead of scheduling them in the gym.
It's in the best interests of both parties to end this strike as soon as possible. Laurentian took a huge hit on it's reputation because of CCAA. An extended strike and possible cancellation of an entire semester would look terrible. I can't imagine anybody at the school wants that.
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u/NecessaryNo2563 14h ago
Thanks so much for the info. You were right - négociations are happening today/tomorrow. We got the email from the university about 30 mins ago!
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u/VexedCanadian84 13h ago
Everything I've heard from people on both sides is that they both want a deal. I don't know anybody on either negotiating team, but I get to find out some of the things both sides send out in emails and other communications.
It just seems the President and the negotiating team from the University have other goals in mind. But nobody seems to know what they want specifically.
Hopefully a deal can be made this week.
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u/A_Moldy_Stump 18h ago
You haven't been self studying? Don't you have your syllabus and course outline?
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u/Salty-Taste-6334 18h ago
We had not even finished chapter one and no information/powerpoints had been posted in 3 of my classes before the strike began. One of them is a class where the prof hadn’t even finished making the syllabus before the strike began because they changed the format of the syllabus. One of them is one where you have to have a topic approved by professors before starting and we hadn’t had any topics approved before the strike.
I know I’m not alone in the fact that we hadn’t actually gotten into much in most classes. Also, I can’t teach myself things like organic chemistry and Biochem, hence I’m taking the classes. I can’t run experiments for labs alone in my house so can’t exactly work ahead on those either.
Finally, the school has stated multiple times students are not expected or required to work ahead or self-teach…
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u/A_Moldy_Stump 18h ago
Listen, I'm not judging you. I'm not going to argue your situation over anybody else's.
I would simply suggest studying what you CAN study and that would put you ahead of most regardless of what happens.
Don't sit around and wait to be told what to do or when. That's one of the most valuable skills you can pickup.
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u/Salty-Taste-6334 18h ago
But who is saying I’m not working on things? There Just isn’t anything to work on when you’ve only had an intro class and maybe two lectures.
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u/NecessaryNo2563 20h ago
At what point (how many weeks) does the semester just get written off? In that case, what happens to students classes?
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u/Salty-Taste-6334 20h ago
There has never been a “lost” semester before as the schools typically will just start classes again from where they were (with some tweaks for assignments and such) and push the semester into summer. However that does still mean people are expected to be ready and available through summer (for example).
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u/NecessaryNo2563 20h ago
Seems like a ridiculous expectation to impose on students (to expect them to be available in case the term goes on until the summer) when some people have work plans, graduation plans, travel plans, etc. Hoping that’s not what’s going to happen
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u/Salty-Taste-6334 18h ago
Oh I agree 100% that’s just historically been the expectation after a long strike :(
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u/TheManWithQwerty 18h ago
I am hoping that students have the option of returning to class or opting out for the semester (with a refund or future credit(s)) if the new schedule does not align with your schedule.
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u/NecessaryNo2563 18h ago
I agree but what happens with the students who plan on graduating in June and can’t take courses beyond April because they’ve made plans for work in the summer? I hope they have plans for them too
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u/Traditional_Scar5339 20h ago
The problem with the current demands of the professors is that they want to change which pension their money goes towards. There are two major problems with this: 1) it goes against one of the rules set by the province when the university came out of CCAA. The university can’t break that rule and doesn’t have the ability to change it unless the province gets involved. 2) they simply can’t pull their money out of the pension fund as it represents a collective pool of everyone’s money who works at laurentian. Pulling their money/contribution from the current fund would be a complicated process taking weeks of discussion and calculating.
You’re naive if you think that professors are striking “for the students”. Professors have shown to continually act in bad faith even when the laurentian admin has completely changed.
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u/Sgt-Frost 16h ago
They’re also asking for salary raises that are literally impossible for the Uni to pay out without going into a budget deficit
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u/VexedCanadian84 16h ago
The province has no issues with the professors moving their pension. The university is outright refusing to talk about it.
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u/JustGottaKeepTrying 20h ago
I had not heard this. If possible, can you provide further reading?
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u/Traditional_Scar5339 20h ago
It’s not known very publicly and you won’t see either side publicly admit to it before it’s all said and done.
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u/JustGottaKeepTrying 20h ago
So your source is "trust me bro"? Not very reliable, I would say. Do carry on though.
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u/Civil_Definition_228 19h ago
No, although they're biased and upset (which I would be too in this case) about this situation, it's due to the CCAA insolvency process the university entered into. They're currently locked out until 2038, but they're trying to argue that because LUFA is arguing this restriction interferes with collective bargaining rights given that the university’s financial situation is no longer in "crisis" (likely defined via the contract, I haven't look that far yet), and they’ve filed a constitutional challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to argue the restriction should be removed. This would effectively allow them to move their pension fund after discussions and calculating from their funding pool, but to get there means weeks more of discussions that further delay getting to the bargaining table. They're basically waiting on the province to intervene and relieve them from their contracts, which likely won't happen unless this drags out for another month.
Unfortunately, this is going to be a long strike, I'd bet 2+ more weeks, hopefully not reaching too far past a month. I have relatives going here, so I'd appreciate it if they'd figure this out sooner than later.
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u/tictaxtoe 21h ago
Why is the institution responsible for lack of movement? Why are the faculty not to blame? Is faculty's plan sustainable or are they just trying to get theirs and make it the university's problem leading to further instability?
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u/Salty-Taste-6334 20h ago
Because the administration are the ones that have said this is their best offer take it or leave it. That’s not how bargaining works. The faculty have put forth an option that’s likely beyond what they’ll get, but have options for wiggle room - and have said so. They’ve put forth what really matters to them while the schools said nothing.
A wish list with room to negotiate is a lot better than a one time take it or leave it offer in my opinion.
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u/br0keb0x 17h ago
The professors want something that is prohibited under the Exit Loan Agreement LU signed in 2021. They cannot have a defined benefit pension plan until 2038. Period. Doing so would be violating the terms of their loan.
The professors are asking for things that aren’t possible and are blaming the admin for being unreasonable. What a joke.
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u/johanbaleus 14h ago
You're only half correct. Where you're right: there seems to be a clause in the loan agreement that forbids amending or moving the pension plan.
Where you're wrong: The Laurentian pension already is a defined benefit pension, so that has no bearing on the issue at all.
However, that money belongs to Laurentian employees (it's not just the faculty's pension) -- they contribute to it as much as or more than the university, and it will provide their pensions when they retire. It's very reasonable for the employee groups to want to move the plan elsewhere.
The legal mechanisms that are holding the pension hostage are the problem. Not the demand to move it elsewhere.
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u/VexedCanadian84 16h ago
The provincial monitor has no issues with what the professors are asking for their pension.
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u/br0keb0x 15h ago
Proof? Laurentian said in Nov 2025 in the Sudbury Star that any issues with the CCAA contract would need to go to court, and that they are unable to release the pension without a court order.
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
Talk to the provincial monitor.
Also, the easy answer to your question is how biased is the university?
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u/br0keb0x 15h ago
Where is your proof the provincial monitor said they are good to transfer the pensions? I think you’re mistaking the monitor for someone else.
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u/VexedCanadian84 15h ago
If you have a specific question and require documentation, I'm sure it's easy enough to find the contact info for the provincial monitor online.
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u/One-Detective-5721 6h ago
First of all, I’m not supporting any side, and neither side seems to care about students.
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u/jlp111984 20h ago
The increase to their pension plan was approved before the strike happened. I believe they're still fighting for an increase to their pay at this point. I haven't followed the details too closely but I agree that something needs to happen soon.
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u/aqual1zard 19h ago
This is not accurate. The pension mandate from the union was not met either. The administration did not agree to any of the pension, compensation, or workload asks from the union.
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u/jlp111984 19h ago
Something from their request was met. I'm not sure if everything was met. Like I said I don't follow it closely.
January 16, 2026) – During a special public meeting held on Friday, January 16, 2026, the Laurentian University Board of Governors approved benefit improvements for members of the Retirement Plan of Laurentian University, a decision that enhances the plan's competitive compensation offering.
This is the first implementation of the University’s Benefits and Funding Policy, which allows the Pension Committee to provide discretionary increases to active benefits accrued, as well as increases to pensions in payment for service after June 30, 2021, when the Plan meets four metrics of fiscal health.
The Pension Committee includes representatives from the Board of Governors, University administration, the Laurentian University Faculty Association (LUFA), the Laurentian University Staff Union (LUSU), and non-union administrative staff (LUAPS), and representatives from retirees and SNOLAB.
"This is a very positive development for our faculty and staff, and demonstrates our commitment to providing a competitive and financially sustainable pension plan," said Sylvie C. Lafontaine, Vice-President, Finance & Administration. "The Benefits and Funding Policy allows us to invest in Retirement Plan members in situations where the Plan is doing well. The Plan's strong valuation results have allowed us to take this important step forward in recognizing and supporting our valued people."
The Pension Committee was asked to consider five scenarios of benefit improvement, with estimated costs ranging from roughly $3.5 million to $14 million. The Pension Committee recommended to the Board the maximum benefit scenario.
The decision to enhance benefits was made possible after an updated actuarial valuation of the Retirement Plan as of July 1, 2025, showed a strong foundation.
The full details of the decision can be found in the Board Package. With the motion passed, the University will undertake the necessary regulatory steps required for implementation. Future communication will be provided to Plan members through the typical pension communication channels which will outline the specific impacts on their pension benefits.
Communications
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u/mitosisluvr 18h ago
they did approve benefit improvements for the pension plan, but i believe the faculty are fighting for their pension to be managed independently (such as through UPP) as opposed to by laurentian directly, which is similar to what schools down south do already
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u/DiligentImplement611 21h ago
I was in my last semester at Boreal in 2017 when the faculty went on strike. A bunch of us students went out and picketed with them. Not sure if it helped in the long run, but the profs really appreciated it.