Members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2424 are continuing to strike for their pension rights.
The union represents more than 850 administrative, technical and clerical workers at Carleton and said on its website that more than 650 members had picketed as of March 6.
The picket lines have been lively, with cheers including “whose streets? Our streets!” and, “the longer the lines, the shorter the wait.” Picketers said they are in high spirits despite the hardships a strike brings for members and students.
“If this didn’t really matter, people wouldn’t be giving up their unpaid time,” said Leslie MacDonald-Hicks, CUPE 2424’s vice-president (internal).
The strike has been affecting incoming and outgoing traffic at the two campus entrances on Bronson Avenue and Colonel By Drive. Cars lined up to get in and out of Carleton were waiting an average of 45 minutes each way, according to one father who picked up his son from campus on March 6.
“My other child has been crying for 45 minutes waiting for me in daycare, while I’m stuck here, running almost an hour late to pick him up. This is ridiculous. My baby son should not be affected by this strike,” he said.
According to CUPE 2424’s website, there has been an outpouring of support from members of the community and other unions. Visitors from the Ontario University Workers Coalition and CUPE National, among others, have joined the striking union members. The post also said that the union has expressed interest in returning to negotiations with Carleton.
Pam Griffin-Hody, CUPE 2424’s previous president, said she drove 15 hours from Nova Scotia to join union members on March 3. She said she had a feeling that the negotiations would turn out like this, and couldn’t stand seeing it from afar.
In an open letter dated March 6 to members of CUPE 2424, Carleton’s interim president Alastair Summerlee clarified the university’s offer.
He said that the university does not intend to move away from a defined benefit pension plan, but wants to secure the composition of the pension committee structure, which oversees Carleton’s pension plan and has included 50 per cent representation from unions for the past 50 years.
However, in an Ottawa Citizen article, CUPE 2424 president Jerrett Clark said the university’s proposals were “misrepresented.” According to him, the proposed contract language does not protect against changes to the union’s pension plan.
Clark added that the union’s negotiators pushed for specific wording to protect the plan and the union’s representation on the pension committee.
However, Summerlee said in the letter that the university had agreed to changes in the language of the contract.
“It is regrettable that the Union team has continued to misrepresent the situation and stir up concern that the University might take such action,” he stated.
Summerlee’s letter added that the offer also included an increase in salaries by 5.4 per cent over three years, as well as internal wage equity, and improved benefits including massage therapy and vision care.
MacDonald-Hicks, who is on the negotiating team, said that she is extremely disappointed in Summerlee’s letter.
“He crossed a line. If they want to come to the table to talk, we’re willing, but public bargaining is just unacceptable,” she said.
In a joint open letter released on March 6, the Graduate Students’ Association, and other unions at Carleton not involved in the strike—CUPE 4600, CUPE 910, and the Public Service Alliance of Canada Local 77000—also criticized Summerlee’s response.
“It is with great disappointment that we see no change in the University’s approach to labour relations. Sadly, we are enduring the second strike within a year, and the fourth strike within the past ten academic years,” the letter stated.
It also questioned the deadlock over pensions, since audited financial statements from the university demonstrate an over $100-million surplus in the 2016-17 year.
“The University has repeatedly stated that it has no plans to change or remove pensions. If this is true, the University should have no problem committing to this in writing,” the letter concluded.
However, the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) has not openly participated in solidarity events or picketing, nor released an open letter. CUSA president Zameer Masjedee said he doesn’t think it’s a student union’s place to take a stance on the strike, but rather to provide students with information about it.
“Our position really is to ensure that the student experience doesn’t suffer because of the strike,” Masjedee said. “Everybody in that union, they’re all valuable members of our community and I know a lot of them and I know that the university wouldn’t be able to function without them. But at the same time, I don’t feel that it’s our role as a student association to pick a side here.”
According to him, CUSA has shared information from both the union and university. In the meantime, Masjedee said the association is working with the administration to help students who have difficulty walking onto campus but do not qualify for Para Transpo, such as those with injuries.
In a previous Charlatan article, picketers said they didn’t expect the strike to end anytime soon.
MacDonald-Hicks said that though it’s up to either side to resume negotiations, CUPE 2424 does not plan to be the first to “back down.”
Photo by Meagan Casalino
