Prince George, B.C. – Arbitration between the University of Northern BC (UNBC) and it’s Faculty Association begins in Prince George today.

Five days have been set aside to help settle the dispute, Nov. 19, 20, 21, 30 and December 7.

Both parties agreed last April on Stan Lanyon as the arbitrator. Lanyon has been a well-known arbitrator and mediator on the British Columbia labour scene for decades and is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators.

Compensation issues have been the main sticking points between the two sides with eight of the 13 issues which remain dealing with remuneration.

All of this after the Faculty Association’s two week strike ended in March and the UNBC Administration applied for mediation under Section 55 of the Labour Code, which lays out a special process for first collective agreements.

Once that process concluded, Board-appointed mediator Trevor Stones recommended that the parties refer the matter to binding arbitration.

Barb Daigle, UNBC’s Interim Vice-President, Administration and Finance, says there’s no way of knowing when the decision will be handed down.

“I think the arbitrator has committed to give us a decision as quickly as possible but it’s definitely up to the arbitrator in terms of how much time it takes to get through the submissions which are lengthy, to have the hearing and then to put pen to paper to write a decision.”

Is UNBC Faculty Association president Stephen Rader confident heading in?

“I am confident he will do a very thorough job of considering both positions. Am I optimistic? I think it would be unreasonable to expect we’ll get everything we want,” he says.

“I think there will be some compromise between the sides and I’m certainly hopeful we’ll get a contract that is fair and is comparable to other universities we’re usually compared to.”

In response to lost class time during the labour disruption, UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks announced the school would provide a $250 financial credit for all students who were enrolled at UNBC as of January 20, 2015.

The credit is effective May 1, 2015 through August 31, 2018.