The negotiating teams for Memorial and MUNFA met on June 26, 2026, for their first bargaining session to work toward a new collective agreement. During that meeting, the university shared its opening package of proposals and now looks forward to receiving MUNFA’s full set of proposals in advance of the next round of talks. 

The university’s proposals reflect Memorial’s deliberate evolution toward a stronger and more sustainable university – one that continues to put students first, concentrates on areas of strength and impact, and fulfills its special obligation to the people of this province. 

Memorial’s negotiating team is committed to working in good faith toward this goal and engaging in respectful dialogue on the bargaining issues.  

The team is confident that all parties are working toward a strong, sustainable Memorial that supports students, employees and the Memorial community while operating in a fundamentally changed environment that requires different ways of approaching challenges and opportunities before us.   

The university is looking for changes in collective agreement language. Some changes reflect organizational change already implemented; others better align decision making at the dean/director level to reflect the location of budget accountability; and others are designed to achieve consistency among and within faculties and schools.  

Ultimately, the university and its community require the flexibility to implement solutions to the challenges it faces through its bicameral system of governance. This system is the structure that safeguards shared governance at Memorial and includes  

both the decision-making authority of Senate, responsible for all academic matters of the university, and the Board of Regents, which oversees the management, administration and control of property, revenue, business and affairs of the university.  

Subsequent rounds of meetings are scheduled for Aug. 17-18, Sept. 15-16, and Oct. 20-21.