U of O students reversed a decision to raise SFUO executive salaries

Students at the University of Ottawa (U of O) recently reversed the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa’s (SFUO) decision to raise each of its incoming executives’ salaries by $6,200 for the 2017-18 academic year.

A March 14 SFUO General Assembly (GA) meeting saw more than 280 students attend, resulting in a successful vote to cancel the executives’ salary increases, The Fulcrum reported. The meeting marked the first time enough students attended the GA to meet the minimum requirement—0.75 per cent of the student body—to hold a meeting since the assembly’s creation in 2014.

Jordan Kent, a first-year political science student at the U of O who attended the meeting, said the turnout was a “true testament” to the work the SFUO has to do to restore students’ trust.

“It’s really a test of democracy and showing that students genuinely care about the future of our student movement at [the U of O],” Kent said.

Prior to the March 14 GA meeting, Rizki Rachiq, SFUO vice-president (finance) presented a motion at the most recent Board of Administration (BOA) meeting to raise executive salaries by 18 per cent, from $33,550 to $39,750. The motion passed, according to The Fulcrum.

Rachiq said at the BOA meeting that SFUO executives were paid less than other student union executives in Canada and less than some other SFUO staff. He said executives often work more than 40 hours per week, but are ineligible for overtime pay.

Rachiq was also quoted as saying an increase in salaries would encourage more students to run for executive positions in the future. Vanessa Dorimain, vice-president (university affairs), said at the meeting that better salaries would appeal to mature students and student parents thinking about running for executive positions.

Rachiq did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

According to the Carleton University Students’ Association’s (CUSA) 2016-17 budget, CUSA executives are also paid less than other student union executives in Canada.

But CUSA council passed a motion last July to freeze executives’ salaries and cut their benefits, saving at least $4,200 in the budget.

While the original motion to raise the incoming SFUO executives’ salaries passed, not all of them said they supported the salary hikes.

Kathryn LeBlanc, the incoming vice-president (services and communication), wrote in a March 12 statement on Facebook that she didn’t support a pay raise if her fellow employees at the SFUO Food Bank didn’t receive one as well.

“I can attest that I do not feel comfortable accepting a $6,000 raise,” LeBlanc wrote on Facebook. “Thus, I will donate my raise to the SFUO Food Bank. I’ll make the donation in $500 or $1,000 installments (most likely in physical goods).”

But at the GA meeting, LeBlanc suggested an amendment that the raises only apply to incoming executives with a legal dependent, such as a child. Her proposal failed to pass.

Kent said the SFUO shouldn’t raise executives’ salaries since they refused to fund some student initiatives at previous meetings he attended. He also said he was “verbally against” the executives’ salary raises, but said he wouldn’t rule them out entirely.

“If they’re willing to get back to a balanced budget, I think then [there] is an opportunity for them to do a modest increase and I believe they should be doing consultations with students when that time comes,” Kent said.