Negotiators remain at the bargaining table today as the strike by the University of Northern British Columbia Faculty Association entered its seventh day.
After a weekend away from the table, talks resumed Tuesday.
"We had a full day of bargaining (that) went late into the evening and we are meeting again today," Faculty Association president Stephen Rader said.
Rather trying to reach an agreement on a line-by-line basis, Rader said the sides have been exchanging packages of proposals.
"This way there are sort of linkage between different things," he said.
Classes for the school's 3,500 students have been put on hold and pickets are in place at UNBC's main campus as well as at the Wood Innovation and Design Centre and the university's Terrace campus.
"One of the things I think that is important to keep in mind is that our goal as the Faculty Association is really to build a foundation that will allow us to go through the next several rounds without having to resort to strikes," Rader said.
"We would like to fix things to the point where we're not looking at going through all of this again in three years...if it takes a little longer this time to get there, then it saves us all of this strife next time."
Even if an agreement is reached Wednesday, Rader said he doubts classes will resume this week. A back-to-work protocol will also have to be negotiated, he said.
"It would take just a couple of days to get everything going again, so I think the earliest classes could start would probably be Monday, but it's really the administration that has the official word on that," he said.
UNBC communications director Matt Wood confirmed the sides are talking.
"We're committed to reaching an agreement at the table," he said. "That's the environment where bargaining is going to happen and ultimately that's where the deal will be reached."
