Last month, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 4600, which represents contract instructors and teaching assistants (TAs) at Carleton University, voted in favour of a strike after months of unsuccessful collective bargaining with the university.
While a strike is not guaranteed, the union will be in strike position on March 27 and has been increasing its public communications extensively in the past few weeks with online ads, posters on campus and an increased social media presence.
Unless the union and the university reach an agreement before the deadline, CUPE 4600 will strike, according to its president, Noreen Anne Cauley-Le Fevre.
“We’re getting close to a strike deadline and the university needs to come to the table with a serious offer that lets us keep teaching,” she told the Charlatan.
How students could be affected by a strike
The university will remain open outside of classes, labs or tutorials affected in the event of a strike, according to an official university document directed to faculty and staff.
Only contract instructors and TAs would strike, but there are nearly 3,000 members in the union. Other instructors and professors are not unionized under CUPE 4600.
Students are expected to go to all classes unless notified otherwise, according to the document.
All campus services, including the library, athletics and health and counselling will remain open.
The Senate policy on academic accommodation during labour disputes says students are entitled to accommodations which could include “reasonable alternative access to materials covered in their absence” or “reasonable extensions of deadlines.”
If a strike lasts 11 calendar days or longer, the Senate must look into rescheduling or extending the remainder of the term. If a strike continues and no remedy is available that is “consistent with the principles of academic standards and quality,” the Senate can decide not to grant credits for the term’s courses.
The policy does not elaborate on how students would make up for these credits, or explain what would happen to students expecting to graduate, but states that normal petition and appeals procedures would apply during the process.
On March 13, the university sent students its second bargaining update, stating the bargaining process has followed a “normal course.”
“The parties continue to meet and bargain in good faith and the university remains optimistic that outstanding issues will be resolved and that negotiated collective agreements will be finalized in a timely manner,” the email statement read.
The university did not provide students with further details about what would happen in the event of a strike and declined an interview request.
“We have nothing to add at this time beyond the statement we have shared,” Carleton media relations officer Steven Reid said in an email to the Charlatan.
Where negotiations stand
The two sides remain far off in negotiations over wages even though the union has reduced its demands, according to Cauley-Le Fevre.
For contract instructors, the union is now asking for a market-rate adjustment of wages to approximately $8,200 per half-credit course—which amounts to about a 9.3 per cent increase over the current collective agreement—and yearly increases of five per cent or the inflation rate, whichever is highest.
The university is offering 9.5 per cent over three years, according to the union’s most recent bargaining update.
“If Carleton wants to attract and retain world-class instructors and graduate students, they need to be competitive with their wage offers,” Cauley-Le Fevre said.
Under Bill 124, members’ wage increases were capped at one per cent per year, effectively resulting in a pay cut each year due to inflation, according to Cauley-Le Fevre.
The union is also asking for about a 12 per cent wage increase for graduate TAs—from about $11,000, or $42.54 per hour, to approximately $12,300 for a full assignment, or $47.45 per hour.
It’s also looking to close the pay gap between undergraduate TAs and graduate TAs by increasing undergraduate pay from $24.51 to $35 per hour, as undergraduate TAs are currently paid nearly half of what graduate TAs are paid.
The university has offered a 6.5 per cent increase over three years, the union’s update states.
The union is also looking for the establishment of set TA-student ratios and protection of contract instructors’ intellectual property rights, which Cauley-Le Fevre said the university has not responded to.
With just 10 days to go until the union’s strike deadline, Cauley-Le Fevre said members of the bargaining units are clearing their schedules in preparation to meet with the university and the conciliator every day. On Tuesday, she said, one bargaining unit was in conciliation from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“We’re ready to meet every day next week, and if need be, we’ve cleared our schedules for the weekend as well,” she said.
She said the union will continue to fight for its demands until the university presents a reasonable offer.
“If Carleton shows up with a serious offer that addresses what’s important to [us], we’re going to have a tentative agreement,” she said. “If they don’t, we’re willing to fight for a competitive wage and good quality education.”
Featured image from file.
