The director of external affairs with Memorial University’s Students’ Union says members fully support per-course instructors who may go on strike.

The union representing those lecturers has received an overwhelming strike mandate from its members.

The Lecturers’ Union of Memorial University, which represents one third of all professors at the university, has been without a collective agreement for four years.

The sticking point is money.

MUNSU’s John Harris says some 13 per cent of classes between the St. John’s and Grenfell campuses are taught by the lecturers, adding if there is a strike, those classes will be put on pause.

(He says just like during the MUNFA strike last year, there will be picket lines that many students will be students will be supporting.)

Harris says MUNSU will support the lecturers as they fight for better wages, adding the ability to force the issue with a strike is an important right.

Meanwhile, MUN officials say reaching a collective agreement with the lecturers’ union, or LUMUN, is its top priority.

They say their latest offer was an increase in salary of 25 to 46 per cent by 2025, retroactive to September 1, 2022, bringing the per course compensation to $7,312, in line with the Atlantic Canadian average.

The university says it’s reviewing the union’s latest proposal and will be back at the bargaining table this week.

Education Minister Krista Lynn Howell is saying little about the dispute.

“We’ll continue to have conversations about if there’s a way the Department of Education can support the university and the lecturers’ union as they move forward in reconciliation of that matter,” she said.