By David Dyck
Strike option will be “on the table” if June vote passes
At a general membership meeting last Thursday, the Teaching Support Student Union (TSSU) met to decide on whether or not they would hold a strike vote next month.
Although The Peak was not invited to attend, according to sources the result of that meeting was a unanimous decision in favour of the strike vote. The union represents TAs, sessional instructors, and other teaching support staff at SFU. Their most recent contract expired on March 30, 2010. An email sent out earlier this month stated that the motion to be voted on was: “Be it resolved that the TSSU conduct a strike vote of the TSSU membership and as per the BC Labour Code at all 3 campuses, on the 26, 27, and 28 of June, 2012.” TSSU bargaining team member Derek Sahota explained to The Peak that if the upcoming vote passes, it will put the strike option on the table for the union, making it a possibility, not a certainty.
“We think if there’s still bargaining to be done, there’s still lots of things to do before we get to that step. It’s quite a serious step to shut the school down,” said Sahota. Sahota listed four basic items that they’re looking for from the school. Firstly, a wage increase to account for the cost of living, to “catch up” since 2010. Secondly, a centralized posting system for all TA listings. “If I’m a physics student, but my background in undergrad is in engineering,” explained Sahota, “If I want to TA an engineering course it’s really difficult for me to even find out if there’s a job available.” Thirdly, the TSSU is looking for a seniority system for sessional instructors. “A trend across north America is instead of hiring faculty is to hire short term sessionals who basically have a four month appointment and sometimes keep hiring them for 10 or 15 years on end instead of hiring them as faculty because it costs a lot less,” said Sahota. Lastly, the union is looking for equal benefits for union members in the English language culture and interpretation and translation program. Leading up to the vote, the TSSU will be holding a series of town hall meetings on the Burnaby, Surrey, and Downtown campuses to discuss bargaining and inform its membership.
