Not much has changed since the back and forth negotiations last year between Carleton’s administration and CUPE 4600, the union representing contract instructors in the university.
An open letter published on Medium has been circulating online this month. The letter, written by a Carleton contract instructor, says “enough’s enough.”
The letter explicitly states contract instructors are “shamelessly exploited by our employers,” and their wages officially classify them as “poor.” According to the letter, the author makes $34,000 a year and is on provincial income assistance.
Contract instructors at Carleton are paid dismally low wages for their long hours. The latest bargaining agreement stipulates that by September 2015, the yearly minimum wage for contract instructors will be $13,500.
Contract instructors work full-time, for multiple years, with little promise of a promotion to a professor position in the future, with wages hovering around the poverty line— which was $21,359 in 2012, according to Statistics Canada.
It is time for the university to recognize the vital work contract instructors do for the students and the school as a whole. They should listen to their demands and pay them a fairer wage.
The university should also foster open discussion about the issues facing contract instructors when they arise, not every three years during the negotiation period with CUPE 4600. Carleton would fall apart without the help of the contract instructors that continuously support the students.
