The UMFA strike at the University of Manitoba has had a negative effect on students, regardless of their personal opinions towards the strike. We students have been caught in the middle of a situation which we did not create and that is ultimately causing us the most damage. The negotiations regarding the factors that the strike is addressing have been ongoing since March of 2016. The bargaining process has gone so poorly that UMFA has resorted to striking and has filed a complaint with the Manitoba Labour Board stating that the Administration has been bargaining in bad faith, which if that is the case, has made this strike go on unnecessarily long. There is no logical reason as to why this could not have been solved by now. The changes to the term date passed by the senate at the U of M are not only unfair to students, but also are a breach of contract causing students financial pain as well as compromising the education that they have paid for.

Pushing the exam dates to after the winter break and getting rid of the winter reading week leaves students with no chance for a proper rest and could be damaging to our mental health. It could heavily affect job opportunities for students graduating at the end of the term. It puts students with plans to return home for the holidays, based on their previous exam schedule, out of a lot of money. Additionally, those with plans to return to their homes outside of Winnipeg after graduation cannot start their careers, have to change flights, and possibly miss their holiday traditions due to the strike as they have to stay for exams. Furthermore, having two exam periods and condensing the January exam schedule to 7 days with shorter length exams, while possibly forcing students to write 3 exams in one day, is unreasonably stressful. The details of the changes approved by the senate can be found here http://umanitoba.ca/admin/strike_info/academic-schedule-changes.html



This is the university changing a commitment made on their end for classes and exams to occur within a specified date range without regards to the students. Students signed on and paid their tuition for these services based on said classifications. We have paid for a service that is being changed without our consent. We are experiencing unnecessarily mental and financial burdens caused by the University not meeting its contractual obligations with the students, their customers. We should not be required to make accommodations based on something out of our control. The University should be forced to fulfil its obligations to the students. Please sign this petition showing your support in forcing the University to meet its contractual obligations to the students regarding term and exam periods.



Photograph by A. Monture