Less than one week into the school year, 700 office staff, technicians, and other workers at Carleton University in Ottawa are on strike, demanding pay raises to bring their salaries on par with those working similar jobs in the community. Both the Carleton University Student Association and the Graduate Students’ Association have declared their support for striking CUPE local 2424 members on campus, demanding a fair deal for members of the workers’ union.
Complicating the issue is the fact that the presidents of both student unions sit on Carleton’s Board of Governors, which BG chair David Dunn believes restricts them from supporting the strike.
Dunn has questioned their right to publicly comment on the strike, even going as far as suggesting to CUSA president Shelly Melanson that she should step down from BG unless she falls in line with the university’s position.
Jen Hassum, who recently concluded a term as president of UTSU (then SAC) to become chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario, deplored Dunn’s contention.
“The reality is that the whole idea behind having student positions, and positions for staff and positions for faculty on the committees, is that they represent the interest of the constituency that elected them.”
On Sept. 11 the student unions staged a rally to show their support for CUPE 2424. Despite rain, more than 200 students took part. Some protestors said they viewed CUPE’s and Carleton’s failure to reach an agreement as a blunt negotiating strategy on the part of the university.
“A lot of students, particularly in the upper years, are starting to see this kind of behaviour and tactic of bargaining repeated”, said Melanson.
Many important services and facilities campus-wide, including libraries and registration, have been reduced because of the strike.
“As the semester progresses and we start tests and towards midterms and paper- writing time it’s going to become increasingly problematic.”
Wiz Long, a spokesperson for CUPE 2424, noted the two sides are still far from agreement on many issues, including wages, sick leave benefits for older workers, and the right to have union representatives present at preliminary disciplinary meetings.
Carleton has proposed a two-tiered system for sick leave benefits, with separate procedures for workers over 65. Long pointed out that the average staff worker retires at 62, with most of those who continue to work doing so out of financial necessity.
“We are looking upon this as an attack upon the very vulnerable,” she said. For the past week negotiations have been at a standstill, though the union has backed down from its hard stance on wage increase equity.
“[Carleton’s] last offer was essentially same as their previous one. We don’t consider that bargaining,” said Long.
Meanwhile, tempers at the student unions are short over Dunn’s warning to Ms. Melanson and Oren Howlett, the president of the Graduate Students’ Association.
Dunn told Melanson that he had been contacted by members of the BG frustrated with both CUSA’s stance alongside strikers and Melanson’s comments to the press. Dunn told her he considered it inappropriate for her, as a member of BG, to speak out against administration in a labour dispute.
“I will not step down,” Melanson said. “I was elected to represent students and represent their interests.”
