At their annual general meeting in Halifax on Oct. 14, CAUT Defence Fund trustees voted to increase strike benefits to $50 per calendar day, from the current $40. The benefits start on the eighth day of a strike. The fund currently stands at $11 million. The 40 trustees also rejected a motion to cap the fund. "The trustees felt it was not at a safe size," said CAUT's executive director Jim Turk, "given the current climate in universities and the unexpected number of long and bitter strikes in recent years." Trustees also voted strike benefits and a $1 million line of credit for Memorial University of Newfoundland Faculty Association. Reelected to another term of office were chairperson Denise Nevo of Mount Saint Vincent University, and treasurer Bill Schrank of Memorial University of Newfoundland.