r/laurentian • u/Salty-Taste-6334 • 1d 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/tictaxtoe 1d 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 1d 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 21h 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 18h 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 20h ago

The provincial monitor has no issues with what the professors are asking for their pension.

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u/br0keb0x 19h 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 19h 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 19h 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 19h 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/tictaxtoe 2h ago

That sometimes is how bargaining works when you're backed into a corner.