Members of the faculty union at the University of New Brunswick will be heading to the polls this week for a strike vote.

The two-day vote will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.

Negotiations between the Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers and the university have been ongoing since March. Their four-year contract expired in June.

Angle:    The union announced its intention to call a strike vote after the provincial government denied a request from the administration at UNB to appoint a provincial conciliator. A mediator was appointed by the province after the strike vote was announced.

Last week, the faculty union – which represents the university’s 575 teachers, researchers and librarians – and university administration agreed to a temporary truce.

The truce will run through to Jan. 2, allowing students to finish the semester and exams uninterrupted by a walkout or lockout.

In one of its recent bargaining updates, the university stated wages as a key issue. The university offered a wage hike of approximately six per cent over four years, or 1.5 per cent per year, which it said was competitive and comparable with the other universities across Canada.

The union last proposed an economic adjustment of approximately 14 per cent over two years, or seven per cent per year.

The union has said its major issues relate to the employer not replacing full-time faculty members as they retire, shrinking academic departments and cutting programs – things it says compromise the national reputation of the university.

“We think UNB is a national, comprehensive university and we want to maintain the reputation and the administration doesn’t seem to feel that way, or at least their actions don’t imply they feel that way,” Jones said.

Although a strike vote has been called, a strike is not guaranteed to occur. Negotiations are set to resume on Dec. 9.

Greg Carriere, the senior communications manager at UNB, said the administration is looking forward to getting back to the table.

“We remain hopeful that a fair agreement can be reached without disruption to our students,” he said.