The union representing per-course instructors at Memorial University has received an overwhelming strike mandate from its members.

The Lecturers’ Union has been without a collective agreement for four years, and according to LUMON, which represents one third of all professors at the university, the employer was only “forced to the table by conciliation.”

President Alison Coffin says the sticking point is money.

“We’ve been the least-paid per-course instructors across Canada for a very, very long time,” says Coffin. She says entry-level positions haven’t changed since 2015, with per-course instructors getting an average of $5,000 per course, compared to the administrative salaries which equate to about $2,000 per student.