No complete withdrawal of services occurred at any of the three campuses
By Graham Cook
Photos by Vaikunthe Banerjee
It was a relatively quiet week for job action at all three of SFU’s campuses this week. No locations experienced a complete withdrawal of services since Wednesday, Nov. 7, when all three locations were picketed by both TSSU and CUPE.
However, various locations in the Academic Quadrangle at the Burnaby campus were picketed by TSSU members on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 13. The South side from room 5003 to 5017 was picketed from 8:00 a.m. until 9:20 a.m., the North side from 5017 to 5037 at 9:20 a.m. to 10:20 a.m., and the West side from 5039 to 5053 was picketed from 10:20 am to 11:20 a.m.
In addition, on Thursday, Nov. 15, TSSU members and supporters held a rally at the Burnaby campus to tell their employer, “We are the teachers, we are SFU, and we want a fair contract now,” according to a release from the organization. The event saw a number of attendees, some wielding megaphones and drums.
SFU vice president, academic Jon Driver, attended the rally to converse with the protesters and was met with responses of, “Engage with us, SFU. Engage with us.” One protestor said, “let’s get back to the table with actual intent to resolve a fair contract now,” to which Driver replied, “we cannot do this until we are at the table, we are willing to come back . . . the only way we do this is at the table.”
Another protestor responded to this remark, “the only way we do this is if you pay attention to what we are saying,” while one of their colleagues added, “and that takes pressure, exactly what we’re doing right now.”
A promise was then made by a TSSU member that he is “going to be here over and over again, getting more and more people here every single time until you guys sit down and listen to us and bargain in seriousness. It is just going to get bigger.” Further exclamations of, “you’re entirely ignoring everything we are saying,” and “why do you guys act surprised after two-and-a-half years that it has come to this?” were made by protestors. The impromptu meeting was broken up when one of the attendees alerted the others that the samosas were ready.
CUPE Local 3338 did not engage in any action this week, a sharp contrast to past weeks. This decision comes while student opinions on CUPE and TSSU’s job action seem to be split. SFU’s official Facebook page has been bombarded by posts arguing for both sides in the labour dispute. The administration has a standing policy of not discussing details of bargaining away from the bargaining table.
The bargaining processes at other universities in BC have proven more fruitful than those at SFU. UBC settled with CUPE 2950, representing over 1,500 full-time, part-time, sessional, and temporary employees, on Oct. 10. Two other UBC locals, CUPE 116, which represents many support staff, and CUPE 2278, which includes teaching assistants, markers, tutors, and instructors settled on Oct. 22 and Nov. 7, respectively. Elsewhere, Thompson Rivers University settled with CUPE 4879 on Oct. 23, UNBC reached an agreement with CUPE 3799 on Oct. 24, Royal Roads University settled with CUPE 3886 on Oct. 29, and UVic came to an agreement with CUPE 4163 on Nov. 2.
