This story has been updated as of 5:00 p.m. on Sept. 4.

The Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) has announced its intention to set up picket lines at SFU Burnaby during the first two days of classes of the Fall semester.

The day of the announcement, the TSSU and SFU had just completed the first of three scheduled days of mediated bargaining, from Wednesday through Friday, in the hopes of reaching a collective agreement, the first bargaining in six weeks. The mediation was overseen by the Labour Relations Board.

In a statement sent out to union members and posted on their website on Wednesday evening, the TSSU expressed that “SFU Administration is still stalling and is still unprepared to negotiate,” leading them to believe that “even more pressure is required to reach a fair Collective Agreement.” The mediation was cut short after two days, with the parties not returning to the table on Friday.

“On the first day of mediation, SFU Administration did not bring a single proposal to the table,” stated George Temple, TSSU spokesperson. “After six weeks to prepare for mediation, SFU Administration brought excuses instead of proposals. In light of that, TSSU announced that picket lines would begin next week.”

“The University is hopeful that the TSSU will ultimately decide not to disrupt the first week of school.”

Kurt Heinrich, director of University Communications

Kurt Heinrich, director of University Communications, emphasized the difference between advocacy and disruption in his response to the TSSU decision.

He stated, “We are disappointed that the TSSU is targeting students, and even impacting the livelihood of their own members, in an attempt to influence their own negotiating position.

“The University is hopeful that the TSSU will ultimately decide not to disrupt the first week of school.”

The picket lines are scheduled to be set up around the Applied Sciences Building from 7:30 a.m. until noon on Sept. 8, and around the Academic Quadrangle beginning from 4:30 p.m. until 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 9, coinciding with SFU’s 50th anniversary “Celebrate and Savour” event, an evening of entertainment and dining to be held in the AQ Gardens well into the night.

Picket lines were also set up during orientation day, the week before classes.

Going into mediation, both the university and the union “prepared and shared confidential briefing documents outlining their positions and proposals,” according to Heinrich. The university stated that they tabled five new proposals during the two days of mediation, two of which the TSSU replied to in manner that suggest that they are “unwilling to work towards consensus.”

Heinrich also emphasized the university’s commitment to coming to a mutual agreement with the TSSU, pointing to the fact that SFU has recently agreed on a tentative Collective Agreement with CUPE 3338 and have made “significant progress” in bargaining with the SFU Faculty Association.

There are no upcoming mediation sessions scheduled thus far.

“We don’t want to drag out this disruptive job action for another semester.”

George Temple, TSSU spokesperson

The TSSU is asking all its members to respect and participate in the picketing, which may cause class cancellations for students’ first days back to school, dependent on individual faculty members, teaching assistants, and other class facilitators.

This strike escalation builds on the withholding of grades, which began in late July. The union stated that grades will “remain sealed and will not be released until an agreement is reached.”

Students were invited by the TSSU to apply for their grades to be released if special circumstances existed. In a letter sent out by the TSSU to applicants to graduate, the union outlined that the university does have measures in place to allow students to be considered for graduation without their transcripts being completed, and therefore won’t be releasing the grades of those students.

A grade appeal process for those cases of students who are facing immediate deportation — within the next 30 days — is now in effect, though the union warns that it may no longer be possible to process grade requests as all the withheld grades are currently sealed within the SFU Archives.  

“We feel that ending the grade appeal process will force SFU Administration to deal with the problem now,” said Temple. “We don’t want to drag out this disruptive job action for another semester.”

Heinrich also stated that “The University is committed to protecting the interests and experience of SFU students, and will do all [they] can to minimize disruption and impact on SFU students.”

Mitigating actions by the university have included academic advisors working one-on-one with students concerned about their grades, creating formal letters of explanation of the current labour situation to be given to external agencies and other universities, and encouraging students who have questions around their progress to reach out to their instructors for verbal feedback.

Heinrich concluded, “We’re hopeful that we will be able to get a fair and respectful deal soon with the TSSU.”