At noon March 7, the Unicentre atrium flooded with students, teaching assistants, and contract instructors clapping and beating drums as they gathered to raise awareness about the strike deadline.
The rally was to raise awareness for the strike deadline March 10, when there can legally be a strike or lockout involving CUPE 4600, the union representing TAs and contract instructors.
Leaders of organizations such as CUPE 4600 spoke briefly, drawing shouts and chants from the crowd, which filled at least two thirds of the atrium.
CUPE 4600 president James Meades took the megaphone, asking, “Are we going to let Carleton University contract professors be the only ones in Ontario without health benefits? Are we going to fight? Are we going to win?”
The rally then split into three groups, who marched around campus with signs saying “Students and Workers United” and “A Contract Is A Contract.”
One group took to the fifth floor of the Tory Building to rally outside Carleton president Roseann Runte’s office.
The crowd continued to shout their slogan, “fight to win,” filling the hallway, while another group walked through the tunnels. Eventually, the ralliers reconvened in the atrium.
“Strikes are hard on everyone,” said TA Tabitha Armstrong, who led the rally. “Best-case scenario, Carleton hears us today.”
She said she is delighted with the amount of undergraduate support the strikers are receiving.
“Ideally, it’ll last five seconds,” said Amanda Wilson, sociology TA, about the strike. “I think [students] understand . . . we’re not doing this to harm them.”
Strike chair David Simeo, wearing a bright CUPE cape, said he was “a little bit surprised” by the turnout.
“It’s beyond amazing,” he said. “I think the undergrads understand what’s going on.”
