On Tuesday, sessional teachers will take a vote on whether to become unionized. Chantal Sundaram from the Sessionals Organizing Committee defines a sessional instructor as someone who is not a current student, and who is teaching on a short-term contract for 12 months or less. They may or may not have a Ph.D, but are generally equally qualified to full-time professors. Many sessional teachers have completed their doctorate but are only offered contract positions, which are paid per course and have no benefits.
At a meeting on Thursday night a group of sessional teachers and organizers discussed the upcoming vote and the issues surrounding unionization. One sessional teacher who stopped her graduate work after having a child but continued teaching said that “you do the same work, get paid less but without benefits when I need them more with my small child.”
Teaching assistants and student teachers are unionized and a lapse in studies means a loss of benefits. Sessional teachers point to the unionization of their counterparts at many other universities such as York and Ryerson.
Kevin Reynolds, a member of the executive committee of CUPE 3902 (the local chapter that represents teaching assistants and course instructors) points out that sessional teachers “have no leverage to bargain and they are offered less.” This often means less TA support and generally fewer resources and “because of the wages we have to teach more,” said Reynolds. “The number of classes being taught by sessionals is increasing,” commented Dr. Ronda Ward of the Department of History. Ward feels that the undergraduates are missing out because teachers are not getting the support they need. “Sessionals are subsidizing the university,” she added.
The Faculty Association is not sufficiently helpful said the assembled sessionals. Because dues paid to the association are based on income, the sessionals feel that their voice is not heard as loudly as the tenured professors who are part of the same association but who have entirely different needs and are at different stage in their career. “A sessional would never be elected as president,” suggested one teacher present. “They take dues but do nothing for us,” said Ward. The Sessional Organizing Committee argues that because the Faculty Association is not a union with a collective agreement they do not have the legal right or responsibility of representation.
George Luste, President of the Faculty Association, would encourage the sessional teachers who are members of the Faculty Association to vote “no” to unionization on Tuesday. Part of the reason that the Faculty Association is against it said Luste is that “we don’t agree with the way they want to define it.”
Luste refers to the term “sessional,” which could range in application from a lawyer teaching one course to a recent graduate who is far more involved in the university. He feels that there are too many grey areas and that essentially teachers should stick together. Luste believes that unionization of sessionals would make the teaching staff overly divided: “If you look across Canada, the part-time teachers have a better time if they stay with the other teachers. It is not good to create two camps.” Luste points out that between 100 and 200 part-time teachers are part of the Faculty Association and says that the association does work to better the life of the part time teachers. Luste added that they are “currently trying to include the benefit package for part-time people regardless of their status.”
Luste is not of the opinion that sessional teachers are neglected and also disagrees with the assertion that the vast majority of teaching on campus is done by student teachers and non-tenured professors. “We hope that those who are members of the Faculty Association vote no,” he said. As to the unionization of part-time teachers at other universities, Luste said “that’s a hard one…faculty is not unionized either. We act as a pseudo union. We bargain on behalf of the teachers.” Even though he hopes they vote no, Luste wants many sessionals to go and express their views on Tuesday.
According to the Sessional Organizing Committee there are 700 sessional teachers at U of T.
