All Posts Tagged With: "labour"
Student quits over Halifax transit strike
39,000 students can’t use their bus passes
A Saint Mary’s University student said he quit his classes on Monday because the transit strike in Halifax has made it too difficult to get to school. ”I was already missing assignments and quizzes and stuff due to the strike,” second-year criminology student Chase Sabourin told CBC News. “The strike could be over this week, it could be another month down the road. I’m not going to wait around hoping it’s going to end tomorrow,” he added. Sabourin said he plans to return in September. Seven hundred Amalgamated Transit Union workers went on strike on Feb. 2. rendering Halifax’s 39,000 student transit passes useless, at least for now.
Brandon University shrunk during strike
6.3 per cent dropped
Nearly 200 students, representing six per cent of the student body, have left Brandon University since November. Scott Lamont, the vice president of administration and finance, told CBC News that it’s safe to assume many students dropped because of the uncertainty and missed classes that resulted from the 45-day long professors’ strike. The student’s union called for a refund of tuition paid during the strike. Instead, the deadline for voluntary withdrawal from first semester courses was moved to Jan 6. and professors were told to complete classes. The professors picketed from Oct. 12 until Nov. 26 in order to extract higher wage increases. On Dec. 6, they ratified a four-year agreement that includes an 8.5 per cent wage increase, plus increases to professional development, travel and meal allowances. It was the second strike at Brandon in three years.
University of Toronto tutorials are too big
What good is a lab or tutorial with 50 or 100 students in it?
Photo by Shane Global Language Centres
The union that represents teaching assistants at Canada’s biggest school, the University of Toronto, wants the public to know about the ballooning student-instructor ratios in the tutorials and labs they teach.
CUPE 3902, which represents 4,200 teaching assistants, graduate-student instructors, lab demonstrators, invigilators and writing instructors, voted 91 per cent in favour of striking on Nov. 30. A strike is still far off—2012 at the earliest.
The union may be using tutorial and lab numbers as a bargaining chip, but that doesn’t make the figures any less surprising—or concerning.
If the union is correct, 42 per cent of labs and tutorials at U of T now have more than 50 students, more than 100 sections have more than 100 students, and the proportion of tutorials and lectures that have 20 or fewer students has dropped from 40 per cent in 2006 to 23 per cent in 2011.
Continue reading University of Toronto tutorials are too big
McGill reaches tentative deal with workers
But the bitter strike is not quite over yet
McGill University and representatives of striking support workers have accepted a tentative agreement put forward by a provincially-appointed conciliator, both sides announced on Wednesday.
While both sides have said they won’t be revealing the details of the tentative agreement until it is presented to union members, MUNACA president Kevin Whittaker told the Montreal Gazette that: “The agreement does contain a number of the main objectives we wanted,” including a pay increase that is “well over” the university’s original offer.
“Suspicious” fire at Brandon U
Damage up to $150,000
Police in Brandon, Man. are treating Monday’s fire at the building that houses the Brandon University Students’ Union (BUSU) as suspicious. The damage to the Knowles Douglas building is believed to be between $100,000 and $150,000. No one was injured in the blaze. A 45-day professors’ strike at Brandon ended on Friday. Students returned to class on the same day as the fire. The BUSU sided with the professors’ demands for pay raises and, unlike the university, will not refund fees to students who drop their classes as a result of the nearly seven-week strike.
Brandon strike ends
Students can complete courses or get refunds
After 45 days, the strike at Brandon University ended late Friday. Students will return to classes as of 6 p.m. Monday. On Sunday, University President Deborah Poff said that the Board of Governors approved a plan for student refunds of individual courses or entire semesters. However, students who wish to complete their courses will be able to finish the missed semester. Last week the provincial government said it would force Brandon’s 240 professors and other staff to vote on the university’s latest offer. That offer included a nine per cent pay raise over four years, plus an $1,800 signing bonus. To read about how students were reacting to the strike last week, click here.
How students are reacting to the strike
Occupy? Demand money back? Transfer to Winnipeg?
Student Brandon Layh helped organize Occupy the Courtyard at Brandon University
As the faculty strike at Brandon University enters its seventh week, students are frustrated. But that doesn’t mean they’ve been sitting on their hands.
For Nathan Layh, a fourth-year student in the School of Music, this is the second faculty strike that has interrupted his studies. He was there when faculty picketed for 17 days in 2008.
It’s an interruption he’s not taking lightly. Layh, along with a handful of other students, has been camped out on campus since mid-October as part of ‘Occupy the Courtyard,’ movement, hoping to raise awareness of the strike’s impact. Aside from leaving to go to work or similar obligations, Layh says five to 10 protestors have been living on the BU courtyard everyday, even in snow.
“It’s been a long month,” he said. “We didn’t expect it to go this long, we thought that both sides would see how detrimental this is to the university,” he added.
Bloggers prove that not all students support McGill strike
Union says they’re a “small minority”
McGill students. By shahk on Flickr.
In the war of words between McGill’s administration and MUNACA, the union representing 1,700 support staff who have been on strike since Sep. 1, a new battalion of students has emerged— and they’re fighting for Principal Heather Munroe-Blum.
Since the blog Exposing MUNACA went online Nov. 9, it has been viewed roughly 25,000 times.
The bloggers are physics student Peter Guo and English student Kayla Herbert. Their critique of MUNACA fills a hole in the public debate, considering that both the Students’ Society of McGill University and the McGill Daily newspaper have sided with the union.
In response to the popular blog, Joel Pedneault, SSMU’s vice-president of external affairs, told the Montreal Gazette today that he will send an e-mail to all students with more “objective” facts. “When they see the conditions at other universities, they will see MUNACA’s side,” he said.
Continue reading Bloggers prove that not all students support McGill strike
Brandon strikers must vote on contract
Minister takes “extraordinary” step
Manitoba’s labour minister has ordered striking professors to vote on the latest contract offer from Brandon University’s administrators. A strike at the small prairie school has killed classes for six weeks now. If a majority vote “yes,” professors will go back to work almost immediately.
“I have reviewed the circumstances of the dispute and the negative effect of the work stoppage on the students of Brandon University and the city of Brandon,” Labour Minister Jennifer Howard wrote in a letter to university president Deborah Poff and BUFA president Joe Dolecki yesterday. “I am of the opinion that a vote of the employees in (BUFA) to accept or reject the last offer of the employer, respecting all matters remaining in dispute between the parties, is in the public interest.”
The vote is expected later this week. The parties were close to a deal last week. The university offered raises of nine per cent raise over four years, plus an $1,800 back-to-work bonus. BUFA wants 10 per cent over four years, plus $3,000 for each member who goes back to work.
The reason Brandon professors have gone on strike for the second time in three years is that they feel they’re underpaid. Associate professors average $89,000, which is less than the $106,000 nationwide. Still, salaries are very similar to those paid at similar small schools like Nipissing University in North Bay, Ont.
Click here to read an opinion piece on what professors should be paid.
Check back later for a report on how the strike is affecting students, by blogger Sarah Petz.
How much should professors make?
In my opinion, they’re paid well enough already.
Photo by ggbaker on Panoramio
More than 1,000 students at Brandon University have signed a petition asking for their tuition money back because of a faculty strike that caused classes to be cancelled since Oct. 12.
But the Brandon University Student’s Union (BUSU), which has collected the signatures, doesn’t blame the professors—who are striking for the second time in three years—for their three weeks of missed classes. BUSU supports the picketing profs. They agree they’re underpaid.
But are Brandon’s professors really underpaid? More importantly—are professors underpaid in general? It’s a question students and taxpayers should ask—they’re the ones who pay the bills.
McGill student wants apology
Student was accused of misconduct related to protest
Two McGill University student leaders have been cleared of misconduct accusations related to their support of the ongoing strike at the school, says one of the two accused. Joel Pedneault, a vice-president for the Student Society of McGill University (SSMU) told the Montreal Gazette that the accusations were dropped on Friday after he met with associate dean of arts André Costopoulos.
Pedneault says he wants a public apology from administrators for what he calls “harassment.”
Pedneault and colleague Micha Stettin received letters Oct. 14 suggesting they violated the Code of Student Conduct related to a demonstration held on Oct. 11 where students calling themselves the “mob squad” sat in an entrance to the university to show their support for McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) employees. Pedneault didn’t even attend the protest.
The relationship between McGill administrators, MUNACA employees and some students has been strained by the strike, with allegations of thrown objects, the arrest of a 63-year-old employee, picketing that shut down a construction site and more. To read about the acrimony, click here.
McGill strike turns nasty
Threats, injunctions and allegations fly. What’s next?
Photo by shahk on Flickr
Two members of McGill University’s student government face a disciplinary hearing related to a rally in favour of striking support staff. One of them says he wasn’t even there.
Meanwhile, McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum has issued a statement accusing strikers of throwing objects at senior administrators and threatening elderly alumni at homecoming.
And those are just two of the recent confrontations between strike supporters and McGill officials.
The two students facing discipline are Micha Stettin and Joël Pedneault, who are both elected to the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU). They allegedly took part in an Oct. 11 demonstration at which 30 protesters calling themselves the “Mob Squad” (short for mobilization) sat in an intersection at an entrance to the Montreal university’s pedestrian-only campus.
OpenFile reports that the pair is accussed of contravening two sections of the university’s code of conduct, which state: “No student shall, by action, threat, or otherwise, knowingly obstruct University activities,” and, “No student shall, contrary to express instructions or with intent to damage, destroy or steal University property or without just cause knowingly enter or remain in any University building, facility, room, or office.”
Both dispute the charges. Pedneault, vice-president external of SSMU, told McGill Daily that he was not at the protest. McGill admin. told CBC Radio that they will not comment on the details.
The McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) has been on strike since Sept. 1. They want, among other things, a “proper pay scale.” McGill said on Oct. 20 that strikers are asking for too much money: a 28.9 per cent pay increase over three years, they say.
The Mob Squad discipline is only one recent controversy. After the university won an injunction earlier this month limiting picketing near campus, members of MUNACA began picketing outside the homes of senior administrators and the workplaces of board members. Strikers also picketed at events during McGill’s homecoming weekend. At one event, 63-year-old Joan O’Malley was arrested for refusing to leave an alumni dinner at a hotel. She was ticketed and released.
Munroe-Blum released a statement saying striker tactics had “moved from reasonable, civil free speech into threats and vandalism.” On Oct. 21, the university won another injunction limiting the size and noise created by pickets near private homes, workplaces and off-campus events.
The previous day strikers had picketed the construction site of a McGill-affiliated hospital. Construction workers refused to cross the picket line, shutting down work for the day. An injunction was issued ordering strikers to remain more than three metres from site entrances and exits.
The university has been especially critical of the hospital construction site picket. Michael Di Grappa, the university’s vice-principal for administration and finance, told the Montreal Gazette that the move was “a contemptible strategy that will bear no fruit.”
MUNACA president Kevin Whittaker fired back, saying the university is more focused “on getting injunctions from the courts to limit our freedom of expression than… on finding a fair resolution.”
Despite the public rancour, the two sides continue to meet frequently with a conciliator.
So what’s next? Possibly more labour strife. The General Assembly of the Association of Graduate Students Employed at McGill, which represents teaching assistants, voted on Oct. 19 to initiate pressure tactics after five months of negotiations failed to result in a new work contract.
Brandon University strike talks to resume Monday
Students can’t be punished for not crossing picket lines
Photo by ggbaker on Panoramio
There has been a lot of misinformation about the current strike by Brandon University’s Faculty Association (BUFA). Here’s what we do know.
Reports earlier this week suggested that students will be punished if they choose to skip the classes of any professor who chooses to go back to work before the strike ends. President Deborah Poff wrote Tuesday that no student was ever at risk of being punished. “Students have a right not to cross a picket line,” she wrote. “It is an act of political and moral conscience, and Brandon University will not discriminate against students for their political beliefs.”
It was also reported that talks had broken off on Wednesday, as the conciliator had returned to Winnipeg. But BUFA writes today that although the two sides will not meet again until Monday, that’s because the conciliator is unavailable until then, not because talks had broken off. BUFA also confirmed that they have rejected the schools’ offers for arbitration or mediation and arbitration.
Continue reading Brandon University strike talks to resume Monday
SFU lockout ends with concessions on both sides
Staff keep $30 wages, but don’t need to be replaced
Photo courtesy of stephenrwalli on Flickr
The Simon Fraser Student Society lockout has ended after 94 days. ”I think both sides compromised,” President Jeff McCann told The Peak student newspaper. The Canadian Union of Public Employees staff signed a new collective agreement with the SFSS board on Oct. 11 and went back to work.
The major relief for current employees in the new contract is that permanent staff will keep their current wages, which average $30.48 per hour. The SFSS had originally proposed a wage cut of roughly $10 before the lockout began in July. New permanent employees will start at $25 per hour—lower than the union wanted—but more in line with the average hourly wage in Canada, which was $24.71 in August, according to Statistics Canada.
The board won concessions too, in that new student employees can be paid a much lower $14.50 per hour. That could save money. McCann had long argued that wages were so high that the SFSS was being forced to cut services and bursaries. Another win, as far as the board is concerned, is that they’re not obligated to replace staff when they leave, so long as they maintain a complement of at least six full-time and two part-time staff. There are currently 12 full-time employees.
Brandon University staff are on strike
Sticking point is wages, says professor
Photo by ggbaker on Panoramio
Staff at Brandon University are on strike. They hit the picket lines at 7:30 a.m. this morning.
Negotiations between the Brandon University Faculty Association and the administration ended at 5 a.m., reports CBC News. BUFA represents 240 professors, instructors and librarians.
The university says that classes for roughly 3,000 students are cancelled until at least Oct. 14. Deandra Tousignant, who speaks for the Brandon Students Union, said the faculty association communicated their support of students who cross the picket line for school work.
Jim Forsythe, a professor, told CBC that faculty asked for wage increases of four per cent for each of the next three years, but that the university offered two per cent in year one, two per cent in year two and no rise in year three. Taking into account inflation, the offer amounts to a pay cut, he said.
A recent Statistics Canada study of 27 universities showed that the median salary for associate professors in 2010-11 at Brandon was $95,220. The highest paid associate professors in the study were at York University ($123,959) and the lowest paid were at Vancouver Island University ($82,946). Brandon’s professors were the 20th best paid out of the 27 schools in the study.
BUFA was last on strike in 2008 for 17 days.
BU faculty vote to strike
Last strike was in 2008
Brandon University’s 240 professors, librarians and administrative staff have voted 71 per cent in favour of a strike. That does not mean a strike is certain. “The clear message of this strong, positive mandate is that BUFA members are determined to achieve a fair and equitable settlement in this round of negotiations,” Brandon University Faculty Association president Joe Dolecki said in a release. The school experienced a 17-day strike in the fall of 2008, according to CBC News.
Stalemate in Simon Fraser Student Society lockout
Latest offer would maintain $30 hourly wages
Photo bt stephenrwalli on Flickr
Fifteen unionized employees remain locked out by the Simon Fraser Student Society nearly three months after the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3338 rejected a contract that included $10 per hour wage cuts in July.
The student union’s latest offer on Sept. 1 included no wage cuts for current employees and a reduction in full-time staff by attrition only. Instead of cutting wages and employees, the offer would have allowed for a gradual reduction in the number of full-time positions and the SFSS would have been able to hire students at starting wages of $13 per hour instead for future positions.
The union says that would create a two-tired system. Richard Overgaard, a CUPE national communications representative, told The Ubyssey student newspaper at UBC that the union won’t counter the offer until the SFSS ends the lockout.
Services that are unavailable due to the lockout include the copy centre, the Women’s Centre and the LGBTQ support centre.
The SFSS maintains that a $30.48 average hourly wage for 15 full-time staff is unsustainable in light of its $800,000 deficit. The average hourly wage for all Canadians aged 25 to 54 in August was $24.71, according to Statistics Canada. CUPE says that its members are not overpaid.
McGill accused of illegal replacement workers
Injunction forces smaller, quieter picket lines
McGill student courtesy of Evan Shay on Flickr
The union representing striking support staff workers at McGill University has filed a report with the Quebec Labour Board alleging that the university is using illegal replacement workers, reports Canadian Labour Reporter.
The report followed an investigation by the Quebec Ministry of Labour that found 15 of the 110 workers filling in for striking staff were not managers or otherwise eligible replacements.
Michael Di Grappa, vice-principal of administration and finance for the university, disputes the accusation. “All the contingency actions taken to keep the university operating in its core mission of teaching and research during the MUNACA strike are fully within the law,” he said.
Meanwhile, the university has obtained an injunction to force McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) workers to reduce the size and volume of picket lines in order to allow more access to the school, at least until a hearing on Oct. 3.
Di Grappa told the Montreal Gazette that the school asked for the injunction because of concerns that students were forced off sidewalks by picketers and that the delivery of perishable research items had been impeded.
MUNACA went on strike since Sept. 1. and is seeking what they call “a proper wage scale.”
Classes must be held on campus: McGill
Prof. moved class to living room to avoid picket lines
A McGill University professor who moved her Islamic studies class to her living room to avoid crossing the picket lines of striking workers has been told to get back to campus or lose her pay.
Prof. Michelle Hartman said she was told by Christopher Manfredi, the Arts Dean, that she can’t do her job properly off campus. “I told him I’m moving it back under protest,” she told the Montreal Gazette. She wanted to avoid campus as a symbol of solidarity with the strikers.
Provost Anthony Masi wrote to all professors on Tuesday to clarify the school’s position: “A professor’s right not to cross a picket line does not confer any right to move classes away from campus,” he wrote. Students had complained of inconvenient off-campus classes, he said.
McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA) employees have been striking since Sept. 1. MUNACA has asked McGill for a 3 per cent wage increase each year for three years, plus a wage scale where employees reach maximum pay in six years. Negotiations continue.
Back to work at Ontario colleges
Union says tentative agreement “preserves good jobs”
Ontario’s 8,000 college support staff will be back at work Tuesday after a tentative agreement was reached late Sunday night between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union and the College Employer Council.
The 18-day strike caused dirty buildings, confusion over whether student loans would be delayed and long lines for cars trying to get through picket lines and onto campuses.
Rod Bemister, chair of the OPSEU bargaining team, said in a statement that the union secured key contract proposals. “Our position from the start of contract talks was that this round of negotiations would be about preserving the good jobs our members currently enjoy, while at the same time ensuring that good jobs will be in place for future college support staff. We believe we met those objectives,” said Bemister.
Brian Costantini, President of the College Student Alliance (CSA), warned over the weekend that “some students cannot afford another week without gaining access to specific support services—their semesters are now in jeopardy.” He said Police Foundations, Fire Fighting and Aviation students were at risk of losing their semesters if a resolution wasn’t reached quickly.
“We are very pleased that we reached a negotiated settlement. We look forward to welcoming all of our valued employees back to the colleges where we can again work together for the success of our students,” Gerry Barker, Chair of the Colleges’ Bargaining Team said in statement.
Maclean’s On Campus will provide details of the new agreement as soon as they’re available.
