NOSM University counts down to strike deadline with impact unclear for some students | CBC News

Midterms are looming for first and second year students at northern Ontario’s medical school but so is a possible labour disruption creating some uncertainty for students.

The union representing 41 faculty and professional staff has set a deadline for the night of Sunday, Nov. 5 to reach a contract with administration.

The president of the NOSM University Faculty and Staff Association (NUFSA), Darrel Manitowabi says at that time they’ll decide whether to strike or keep talking. 

He says the university could also decide to lock them out.

The union represents full time instructional staff and a number of librarians and learner support staff.

The potential impact on students is not clear.

When asked, a couple of first-year students said they were just putting down their heads to study for midterms and suggested classes could continue online in case of a labour disruption.

The university administration hasn’t confirmed that classes would continue or midterms would be held in case of a labour disruption.

A third-year student, Alanna Makinson, says she’s now doing a clerkship at the Timmins and District Hospital which puts her off campus and out of the classroom.

Student supports union seeking a fair deal

But she says she could be affected in a couple of ways.

She says she must complete a research project as part of her third-year curriculum

“My first stop was accessing library services to support my work for this research project and so I would lose access to those services,” Makinson said.

Librarians are part of the NUFSA.

Makinson would also lose access to learner support services.

“We have in our first and second year, we have mandatory mental health check-ins as well as career advising and so that would be impacted,” she said.

Regardless, Makinson supports the union in doing what it must to attain a fair deal.

“These are the workers that are educating the next generation of physicians,” she said.

“And so we need to properly compensate the workers that are doing that work through fair pay, benefits and working conditions.”

NUFSA president Manitowabi didn’t say what the union is asking for or how far apart the two sides remain in advance of the deadline.

But NOSM University president and dean Sarita Verma referred to financial restraint at the university in an unrelated panel discussion on rural doctors held by the Ontario Medical Association on Wednesday, Nov. 1.

“We have not necessarily received the support that we need to stay financially sustainable,” she said.

“And in order for all the medical schools in Ontario to continue to do the work that they need to do, there has to be advocacy to help us deliver. We’re being funded at the rates in 2010. We needed  a 29 per cent cost of living increase and we cannot continue to subsidize medical education on the backs of our clinical faculty.”

The past year has been eventful for NOSM University as it became the first stand-alone medical school in the country. But Manitowabi said that didn’t make these labour negotiations any different than previous ones.