Fonds MS-9-20 - Dalhousie Staff Association fonds

The Dalhousie Staff Association (DSA) was formed in 1971 to unite clerical, technical and non-professional library employees at Dalhousie University in an effort to improve staff communications with the university administration. As a voluntary organization, it achieved several primary objectives: the establishment of a job evaluation program, standardized working hours and vacations, and a committee to air common concerns and complaints.

Despite pressure from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) to organize the university’s non-academic employees, on 5 September 1974 university staff voted in favour of the DSA as their exclusive bargaining agent. The DSA applied for and received a voluntary recognition agreement from the university, which was signed on 23 January 1975. The first collective agreement between the DSA and the Board of Governors took effect on 9 May 1975.

In 1991 the DSA decided to merge with a larger union to gain the advantages of greater resources and a stronger bargaining position. Talks were initiated with the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU), and a merger agreement was signed in the spring of 1994, retroactive to 1 July 1992. In the interim, the DSA negotiated a final contract on its own, covering the period from 1993-1997.