Food workers to consider job offer Monday, after contract flip at Mount Allison
Mount Allison’s food workers have a big decision to make on Monday, when members of CUPE Local 1440 will consider an offer from the school’s new dining services contractor, Chartwells Canada.
Local 1440 president Jason Tower says his members “know we have to give up some stuff,” in the establishment of the new contract. “We get that completely, because it’s a new company,” said Tower from a CUPE convention in Fredericton on Thursday.
Mount Allison did not require bidders for its dining services contract to recognize the existing collective agreement with Local 1440 and its 45 members. That hasn’t always been the case.
Before 2006, a change in companies did not mean a mass firing and a fresh start in contract negotiations for unionized workers. Tower says that 2006 was the first time that a new company was not required to honour existing worker contracts. Since then, Mount Allison seems to have embraced the practice of ‘contract flipping’, where it seeks a new, low bidder without any requirement for that company to hire current staff, or honour their established contract.
In a news release the university says it followed, “procurement legislation and established norms within the University sector, which require periodic participation in open and competitive procurement processes.”
Tower says that on Monday he will meet with local members to show them the offer from Chartwells, and then hold a vote.… Continue
Mount Allison’s 5-year plan to renovate the RP Bell includes a temporary library and future athletic space
Senior administrators with Mount Allison University have announced plans for a five year, $85 million project that will begin construction this summer, and has been in the works since 2018.
The school will be breaking ground this summer on Landsdowne Street behind the Athletic Centre to build a 40,000 square foot building to temporarily house the university’s library for three years, while the octagonal Ralph Pickard Bell library undergoes a major renovation.
The plan is to have the new building ready in two years, by the summer of 2026, and then move library services onto Landsdowne until 2029, when the renewed Ralph Pickard Bell library is slated to reopen. After serving as a temporary library for three years, the new building will be outfitted as a multipurpose athletic facility for the school.
Mount A’s interim president Robert MacKinnon, vice president of finance Robert Inglis, dean of libraries Rachel Rubin, and director of facilities management Kris Kierstead presented the plan in two presentations to the university community on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Hear Rachel Rubin and Kris Kierstead talk about the project after their presentation on Wednesday:
The total project will cost about $85 million, says Inglis, with provincial and federal governments chipping in $36 million, and donations making up most of the rest.… Continue
Desmond Cole comes to Mount A and brings some questions about how schools handle Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility
Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility, or EDIA for short: It’s become a standard acronym and feature of policy making in institutions like Mount Allison University. But what EDIA means, and what it accomplishes in terms of the needs of people on the ground at those institutions, are questions that Canadian author and activist Desmond Cole will be asking in a talk tonight at Mount Allison University.
Cole is a journalist, activist and author based in Toronto. His work focuses on anti-racism and the struggle against state violence, including the practice of carding. His 2020 book, The Skin We’re In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power won the Toronto Book Award and the OLA Evergreen award.
Cole’s talk is the third instalment of the President’s Speaker Series, and takes place in the Crabtree Auditorium, across from the Ralph Pickard Bell Library, starting at 7pm Tuesday. The talk is open to anyone, though masks are required on campus. For those who can’t make it in person, the talk is also available online through Microsoft Teams by registering with the organizers.
Hear Desmond Cole on CHMA’s morning show with Nana Ofori-Amanfo and Erica Butler, previewing tonight’s talk, sharing about his journey to activism, and what he says to folks who deny systemic racism.
… Continue
Years of planning and a salmon dinner lead to major public funding commitment to future of Ralph Pickard Bell library
The Ralph Pickard Bell library just took a giant step closer to a renewal project that has been in the works for years. On Tuesday afternoon, dignitaries, media, and members of the Mount Allison community gathered for a joint announcement from the provincial and federal governments of a combined $36 million in funding to help make the renovation a reality.
MP for Beauséjour and federal minister of infrastructure Dominic Leblanc announced $26 million towards the project coming from the green infrastructure stream of the Canada-New Brunswick bilateral infrastructure agreement. “There were a number of hundreds of millions of dollars that had not been allocated in the existing Canada-New Brunswick agreement,” said Leblanc after the announcement on Tuesday. “This is one example of the decisions that we made with the government of New Brunswick to access that funding, to do important infrastructure projects around the province.”
Leblanc says the project fits under the green infrastructure stream since the renovations will make the Ralph Pickard Bell Library “world-leading in terms of its environmental footprint.”
Two of New Brunswick’s provincial ministers also attended Tuesday. Minister of Health and Mount Allision alumnus Bruce Fitch was there, along with Post-Secondary Education minister Trevor Holder, who announced New Brunswick’s contribution to the project.
“I’m incredibly proud to announce today a $10 million commitment from the provincial government to support the programming needs here at Mount Allison University,” said Holder, to applause from those gathered.… Continue
Sackville prepares for Fiona
Hurricane Fiona has prompted a wave of cancellations and postponements as people prepare for high winds and heavy rain starting late Friday night and continuing through Saturday.
CHMA called up town of Sackville special projects manager Kieran Miller to find out what advice and information the town has to share:
Miller recommends people, “secure any loose objects on your property, clean up any downspouts and make sure that you have a 72 hour emergency preparedness kit on hand.”
She also recommends people sign up for the town’s new alert system, Voyent Alert.
“We hope never to have to use our emergency alert system, says Miller, “but we recommend all residents sign up.” Voyent Alert allows people to chose between alerts delivered via phone call, email, text, or through a smartphone app.
Sackville is prone to freshwater flooding, especially when high tides prevent freshwater from draining through existing aboiteaux into the tidal Tantramar River. High tides at about 11:15pm Friday night and 11:40am Saturday could be critical times for flooding risk, depending on when the heaviest rainfall arrives.
Miller says the town’s public works staff are, “in a state of readiness. They’re getting everything ready to go should they need to take action.”
In case of an extended power outage, the Tantramar Veteran’s Memorial Civic Centre on Main Street is equipped with a generator and could be put into use as a warming centre or emergency centre.… Continue
COVID update: Mt A cases up to 33, more deaths and hospitalizations province-wide
There are 33 active cases of COVID-19 in the Mount Allison community, according to a weekly update released Tuesday by the university. That case count has doubled since last week, and is based on test results self-reported to the school from students, staff and faculty. 24 of the cases are located off campus, and 9 are in residence.
As of Tuesday, there have been 348 cases reported to the school since it started collecting data on January 3, 2022.
Provincial public health also released its weekly update on COVID-19 yesterday, showing an increase in hospitalizations for the second week in a row. There are now 13 more people in hospital, bringing the total to 142. The number of people on a ventilator has dropped by half, to 8.
Thirteen more people have died from COVID-19 in New Brunswick, bringing the total deaths to 349.
There were just over 3000 new cases identified in the past week with PCR lab testing, and another roughly 4500 identified with take home rapid test kits, but the province is warning that those results are less reliable than lab testing.
On the vaccination front, there were just over 2400 shots of a COVID-19 vaccine administered in the whole province in the past week. 227 were first shots, 685 were second shots, and 1529 were boosters. … Continue
Mount A sees bump in COVID cases on campus
Mount Allison University says it is seeing increased cases of COVID-19 on campus, and is asking the campus community to “diligently follow” the school’s public health protocols. The school released new case counts on Tuesday reflecting 49 new cases in the past week, all self-reported from people getting positive rapid test results. That number may include some people who are currently not on campus in Sackville.
As of Tuesday morning, the school reports 33 people with active cases in the Sackville campus community. Seven of those cases are in people living off campus, and 26 are in residence.
The school has been giving weekly updates on case counts since January 18, and this is the largest jump in new cases during that time. It’s also the first time that on campus cases outnumber off campus cases. Since January 3, the school has reported a total of 174 people with positive rapid test results that they have shared with the university’s .
Despite the end of the provincial health order on Monday, Mount Allison has opted to keep certain measures in place until at least April 30, including wearing masks indoors, and asking people who test positive and their close contacts to self-isolate for at least five days. Masks are required outdoors on campus until March 14.
The school continues to distribute packages of KN95 respirators to students via the Mt A bookstore, but says that after March 14, requests for mask supply will be considered only if supply is available.… Continue
Monday on TR: Dietz on new climate report; Indu Varma on Sackville’s newest public art project; nurses ratify agreement
Listen to Tantramar Report for the following stories:
New federal report on climate change in Atlantic Canada
You may know Sabine Dietz from her role as a councillor with the town of Sackville. Elected this past May, the Sackville biologist and environmental educator is an active council member, always ready with questions about Sackville’s spending and policies. Shortly after her election, Dietz took on another big portfolio, leading ClimAtlantic, a new regional hub for climate services, funded for the next three years by the federal government. CLIMAtlantic itself came out of another project Dietz was working on, a report looking at the risks and responses to climate change in Atlantic Canada. That report was released last week, and so Tantramar Report called up Dietz to find out more.
Local artist Indu Varma brings a new Canada Council funded public art piece to Sackville
By next December, Sackville will have a new piece of public art, courtesy of local artist Indu Varma and the Canada Council. Varma presented her concept to Sackville town council in early December and recently received approval to go ahead with the ceramics project which will depict Sackville’s history in a tile mosaic in the shape of a ship. Tantramar Report spoke with Varma to hear about her inspiration and the plans for the project.
Rapid test kit pick up tomorrow in Sackville
Packs of COVID-19 rapid tests are available for pick up in Sackville on Tuesday at the Tantramar Civic Centre parking lot off Main Street.… Continue
Thursday in brief: The Sound of Fire launches tonight, Dietz and Tower join councillors’ roundtable; another COVID death in Zone 1
The Sound of Fire book launch tonight
In 1941, a fire broke out in a men’s residence at Mount Allison University, engulfing the building in a matter of minutes, and killing four people. That fire and the people who experienced it are the subject of a new work of historical fiction by Mount Allison acting archivist Renée Belliveau. The Sound of Fire is being launched tonight at 7:30pm at a virtual event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the fire. You can register on Eventbrite, and find signed copies of The Sound of Fire at Tidewater Books in Sackville.
Farmers Market moves to winter location
The Sackville Farmers’ Market is moving this Saturday, to a new winter location at 18 Lorne Street. The recently repainted red building which houses the Sackville Commons co-working space will be home to the market on Saturday mornings until spring 2022.
Festival of lights comes to Sackville Saturday
Sackville is celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, thanks to organizers at Mount Allison University. A celebration with performances and food is taking place at Convocation Hall on Saturday at 6pm. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
Sackville town councillors roundtable on CHMA tonight at 6pm
Tune in to CHMA tonight at 6pm for another edition of the Sackville councillors roundtable with councillors Sabine Dietz and Michael Tower talking about what’s on the agenda for next week’s council meeting, including the town’s budget and spending plan for 2022.… Continue