CUPE 4600 and Carleton University are expected to return to the bargaining table over the weekend after nearly a week without talks. Here’s what you need to know.
- University promises course credits won’t be affected by strike
- University hires private security to monitor strike
- Carleton sitting on over $400 million in “expendable resources”
University promises course credits won’t be affected by strike
University president and vice-chancellor Benoit-Antoine Bacon told members of the Senate Friday there was no reason to think the term would be extended at this point, following questions from student senator Giuseppe Ivan Sestini*.
“We have been asking repeatedly what’s going to happen to us, because obviously, the students are the innocent party in this ongoing strike, [but] we haven’t been heard [by] the university,” Sestini said.
Both Bacon and vice-president (academic) Jerry Tomberlin said further action would only be considered if the strike lasts 11 calendar days. This is in line with the Senate policy on academic accommodations during labour disputes.
Tomberlin added students’ credits and progress for this term would not be affected “in any case.”
“I can assure you … that there will be no loss of credit, there’ll be no loss of work,” Tomberlin said.
However, the policy states credits may not be granted for the term if a strike continues to a point where “no feasible remedy consistent with the principles of academic standards and quality is available.”
Suzanne Blanchard, vice-president (students and enrolment), said students expecting to graduate and international students will be “on top” of the university administration’s mind in the event of further disruptions.
“The registrar’s office has already identified all the number of graduating students that have [disrupted courses],” she said. “We are putting plans in place to ensure … the grades are being processed [by university administration] as quickly as possible.”
Bacon said specifics on bargaining would not be discussed in the meeting following further questions from Sestini and Carleton University Students’ Association president Anastasia Stoikos-Lettieri.
“We have to do our best given the challenging circumstances,” he said. “The [bargaining] table is where strikes are resolved.”
Blanchard said students should direct their comments to the Carleton Academic Student Government to have their input heard in case the strike lasts 11 days or longer.
An email from Blanchard to all students following the meeting also added the university would not extend exams beyond the defined exam period ending April 27.
University hires private security to monitor picket line
On Thursday, the Charlatan observed employees of Xpera Risk Mitigation and Investigation’s emergency security management team present at the picket line.
The university initially declined to comment on whether it hired the company to monitor the strike. Upon further questions from the Charlatan during the Senate meeting, a reporter for the Charlatan was kicked out of the meeting for violating Senate observer protocols by asking a question.
The university later confirmed it hired the company, citing safety reasons. The company offers strike management and security services, ensuring “strike disruption is minimal,” according to its website.
Campus Safety Services (CSS) sent an email to community members Thursday morning calling for “caution when arriving [at] campus during the strike,” as videos have surfaced of vehicles running over delineators at the picket line.
CSS added it is monitoring picket lines to ensure access onto and off of campus “without incident,” but did not mention the hiring of any external security services.
Carleton sitting on over $400 million in “expendable resources”
The university has “considerable balance sheet flexibility” and $452.7 million in expendable resources, according to an August 2022 Morningstar Inc. report on Carleton’s finances obtained by the Charlatan. The report, published as the first stages of bargaining with CUPE 4600 began, said this compares favourably to other universities.
The report said this has allowed the university to endure the pandemic with relative ease as well as make special contributions to its pension plans to mitigate future potential budgetary pressures.
“While we hope to reach a deal over the weekend, the strike will continue until the bargaining teams have secured fair deals for both units.”
The report also said the university has consistently presented balanced budgets with surpluses of 11.2 per cent over its revenues in the last five years.
The university’s strong financial position has also been referenced in its own documents. In an Oct. 4 Board of Governors meeting, the university’s finance committee said it was in a “strong cash position” with over $800 million in operating cash and securities.
CUPE 4600 vice-president (external) Davide Ventrone told the Charlatan the report’s findings prove the university could easily provide the salary increases the union is demanding while also paying off its debts, as the university has 167 per cent of its debts in its reserves.
“[The university] has enough money to easily … be able to meet our [highest] demands,” he said. “We’re a small part of its budget.”
The union estimates its total salaries currently account for about $38 million, 12 per cent of the university’s yearly salary budget. The union’s current salary demands would cost the university roughly $2 million this year, approximately an additional one per cent of the university’s annual salary expenses.
By the last year of the agreement, it would cost the university roughly $5 million.
But despite the university’s financial flexibility, it entered bargaining with CUPE 4600 expecting Bill 124, which capped members’ raises at one per cent per year, to remain in place for the upcoming collective agreement, according to the Morningstar report.
“We think they [university administration] are acting as if they’re in a worse position,” Ventrone said, referring to the university’s budgets. “And they don’t give us a lot of information.”
The university did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication. Still, the union remains committed to showing its strength as it re-enters negotiations.
“While we hope to reach a deal over the weekend, the strike will continue until the bargaining teams have secured fair deals for both units,” CUPE 4600 president Noreen Anne Cauley-Le Fevre said in an email to members.
*Giuseppe Ivan Sestini is the former managing editor of the Charlatan. Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi. With files from Elissa Mendes.
