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The McGuinty government’s re-
cent proposed changes to post-
secondary educa!on in Ontario, including more online learning, a shi" from four- to three-year undergradu-
ate degrees and increased private
sector involvement in curriculum de-
velopment and teaching, promise to cut educa!on costs at the expense of quality and accessibility.
Though the report, en!tled “Strength-
ening Ontario’s Centres of Crea!vity, Innova!on and Knowledge”, has re-
ceived li#le a#en!on since its June 28, 2012 release by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universi!es, its recommenda!ons would result in new ways of learning and teach-
ing, and a restructuring of educa!on funding that aims to “modernize” the system in the hopes that by “increas-
ing its produc!vity, we can reduce the cost to the public.”
The report calls for more online class-
es and the crea!on of an Online In-
s!tute where students could receive online degrees, to reduce educa!on costs while maintaining quality of ed-
uca!on. However, it is not clear how online classes would provide students with the same educa!onal experi-
ence as being in a room with a profes-
sor or Teaching Assistant (TA) . Online classes, the report argues, could make universi!es and colleges more acces-
sible to students who wouldn’t oth-
erwise be able to make it to campus, like students from rural areas or those who must work to support children or another family member.
However, providing greater access to lower quality online degrees could ex-
acerbate the dispari!es in income and quality of life of those who already find it difficult to get a post-secondary educa!on. It also strips graduate stu-
dents of the opportunity to interact
with students as TAs and instructors, which provides valuable teaching ex-
perience important in their careers
and an opportunity to fund their grad-
uate studies.
The report also suggests year-round
learning to shorten the length of !me undergraduates spend in school to
three years and increase efficiency by making use of campus facili!es year-round.
While the report touts that “year-round learning could add to the mix of employment op!ons available to students by le&ng them work when they want – summer, fall, or winter,” this strategy may limit the !me non-coop students have to work, causing students to take on more debt, when Ontario college and undergraduate students already have average debt of
$13,000 and $26,000, respec!vely.
It is also ques!onable as to whether or not students will be ready to leave school a"er a three-year degree.
McGuinty Report on Post-Secondary Educa!on in Ontario Proposes Damaging Austerity Measures
September 2012
volume 11, issue 1
THE GUARDIAN
Inside
International Women’s Day page 3
Academic Workers Conference page 5
Working Group Updates page 6
Bargaining Updates page 7
continued on page 4...
...by Amy Buitenhuis
Letters from the Base
Message from the Editor-in-Chief
Mike Thicke, Editor-in-Chief
Jesse Payne, Managing Editor
The Guardian is the official publication
of CUPE Local 3902, the representative
of 7,000 education workers at the
University of Toronto, Victoria University
& the University of St. Michaels College.
The Guardian
is produced by
volunteer and
union labour.
The Guardian
The Guardian is a proud member
of the Canadian Association of
Labour Media, Canada’s national
labour media organization.
180 Bloor Street West, Suite 803
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2V6
Tel: 416.593.7057
UTM: Room 2111E, South Building
Tel: 905.569.4891
UTSC: Bladen building, Room 335
Tel: 416.208.2659
...by Mike Thicke, Editor-in-Chief
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
Welcome to a new year, and a new issue of The Guardian.
To all of our new members, welcome to the Union. I hope The Guardian can help to keep you informed about what’s going on in CUPE 3902, as well as about issues related to educa!on work in general.
The Guardian has a long and proud history in our local. So we’re not planning to mess with what works. However, one of our goals this year is to have The Guardian reach an au-
dience beyond the membership of CUPE 3902. In the past year of Unit 1 bargaining, we learned the value of reaching out to the wider campus community for support. Under-graduate students, for instance, understand that our work-
ing condi!ons are their learning condi!ons. The next few years, with increasing threats to post-secondary educa!on in the form of “austerity” measures, will make this more true than ever.
Current and upcoming ar!cles exemplify our expanded mission. Amy Buitenhuis discusses the Ontario govern-
ment’s “white paper” on post-secondary educa!on. Online courses and shortened undergraduate programs threaten
both our ability to live and students’ abili!es to learn.
This is an issue that we must confront head-on and make sure that everyone understands just how much of a threat the governments’ proposals are. Ashleigh Ingle’s ar!cle on Access Copyright, to be featured in our October issue, showcases just how willing the University is to compromise our ability to study and teach for uncertain and marginal
gains. Again, this is an issue we need to confront, and in solidarity with students and faculty.
Finally, beginning this issue we will be ex-
panding our distribu-
!on of The Guardian to
campus loca!ons such as libraries and major
faculty buildings.
We hope this will bring our message to every-
one on campus and
make us a stronger part of the conversa!on about the future of the
University of Toronto..........................................................................................................................................................................................
Message from the ChairI would like to extend the warmest welcome to all of our returning and new members, as we embark on a new aca-
demic year at the University of Toronto. I hope you have had a refreshing summer and are ready for the year.
Here at CUPE 3902, the Execu!ve Commi#ee and staff, as well as the Quality of Educa!on working group, the Griev-
ance Commi#ee, and the Mobiliza!on Commi#ee, have been hard at work preparing for the challenges of the up-
coming year. Indeed, many crucial tasks are ahead of us.
Units 2, 3, and 4 are bargaining with the Employer and need your support. For Unit 1, we are looking to strike the Funds Implementa!on Commi#ee to implement the distribu!on of gains we made in the last bargaining round. We will also have more General Membership Mee!ngs this year, and will be having 2 in the Fall term. Lastly, please a#end our back-to-work BBQ (details at www.cupe3902.org).
This year is going to be a busy year, and I hope we can work closely together to make this upcoming year a success.
...by Abouzar Nasirzadeh, Chair
An early issue of The Guardian
Interna!onal Womens’ Day
and the Dream of a CUPE Feminist Caucus ...by Sara Suliman, Unit 1, Division 4
3
On Saturday, March 11th, 2012, a few CUPE 3902 members congregated in the Union office for a solidarity breakfast, before joining the Interna-
!onal Womens’ Day (IWD) rally. A"er a year of intense debates, mobiliza!on, and contract ra!fica!on, some self-iden!fying womyn, and allies, decided to take a breather and celebrate IWD, and achievements of womyn both lo-
cally and globally.
As the annual tradi!on dictates, IWD started with a fes!ve rally at the OISE auditorium. A sister from Egypt Skyped in and spoke about her par!cipa!on in the poli!cal up-
rising that eventually toppled Mubarak’s regime. There were other performances and dances in recogni!on of the 100th anniversary of IWD. CUPE 3902 members dis-
cussed the few months that just passed, when the official spokespeople of the Union were largely white men, and when the Union witnessed hur+ul acts of sexism and ho-
mophobia in its Unit 1 ra!fica!on mee!ng, and came to the consensus that a CUPE 3902 feminist caucus is greatly needed.
It is fantas!c that over a thousand members of the local joined the ra!fica!on mee!ng a few days before IWD. However, these discussions glossed over built-in inequi!es between dominant and marginalized groups within the same workplaces. Moreover, in many countries and non-unionized workplaces, the opportunity to discuss working condi!ons and compensa!on is itself a luxury. Therefore, despite the sweat and pain that the process brought, it remains a privilege that must be acknowledged and dealt with responsibly.
A feminist caucus is one avenue to responsibly partake in these cri!cal and o"en uncomfortable ques!ons about power and privilege, in order to eventually dismantle pow-
er hierarchies and organize under inclusive frameworks.
I hope the idea leaves its abstract space and becomes a
reality, especially at a !me where the local is nego!at-ing Unit 3’s agreement, where jobs are largely feminized and face a genuine risk of disappearing altogether. This is a !me for solidarity, for feminism, and for cri!cal discus-
sions that can only move the local forward.
CUPE 3902 is commi!ed to the elimina"on of discrimi-
natory behaviour, policies or prac"ces that prevent or
undermine the full and equal par"cipa"on of all who
wish to join and pursue the mission of the organiza"on.
Discrimina"on can happen overtly, covertly and by
omission. We will take pro-ac"ve steps to ensure that
full and equal par"cipa"on is possible.
We want to work towards an"-oppression and be con-
scious of our privileges and create an environment
where union members are respected for abili"es and
poten"al. We commit to build a union culture in which
equity, diversity and safety are fundamental.
This statement serves to remind us all that diversity in
our society is a strength and that we must ensure equal-
ity and equity.
CUPE 3902 Equity Statement
CUPE 3902 Members convene for Interna!onal Womens’ Day
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
4
“Experiential Learning” or “Privitization”? ...continued from page 1
The fourth year provides students with another year to mature, grow and think carefully about the path they will take once they leave school. With the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 (16.3% as of May 2012 ) more than double that of the general popula!on, it seems strange to push youth into the workforce before they are ready to look for jobs that are increasingly difficult to find.
Perhaps the most pernicious sugges!ons in the report re-
late to the changing nature of post-secondary educa!on funding. Described as “experien!al learning”, the Ministry wants to see more private sector internships integrated with the curriculum and more joint centres between pri-vate firms and universi!es. While providing opportuni!es for students to gain prac!cal work experience is impor-tant, the main purpose of these measures is to shi" the burden of post-secondary educa!on funding to the private sector. Increased private sector involvement in curriculum, teaching and funding could fundamentally change the pur-
pose and goals of educa!onal ins!tu!ons. Close links with the private sector could limit the nature of the curriculum, narrow research agendas, and hinder academic freedom for students and faculty.
It was for this reason faculty at York’s Osgoode Law School turned down a partnership with Research In Mo!on found-
er Jim Balsillie this past March that would have provided $30 million from each of Balsillie and the province to cre-
ate a research centre on interna!onal law despite pres-
sure from the Ministry and York administrators to accept the deal. In par!cular, faculty raised concerns about the role of external funders in influencing academic priori!es, policies and programming and faculty appointments and
visi!ng scholar fellowships. A focus on this type of part-nership would only add to the trend already occurring in Canada: between 1978 and 2008, the por!on of university opera!ng revenues coming from public funding dropped from 83.8% to 57.5%, and private sector funding increased over that period as well.
There is also a proposed push to link university fund-
ing to commercial outputs, by providing these future public-private research centres with access to funding based on “number of firms created, number of angel in-
vestments in student companies, number of new jobs.” A focus on commercial outputs as opposed to educa!onal outcomes could prevent educators and researchers from
exploring a broad range of curriculum and research goals
and might dispropor!onately favour the fields of engi-neering and science over humani!es and social sciences. It could also change the type of research being done within disciplines, say by favouring research on oil development over green technologies that may be less lucra!ve.
It is important to look at this report in the context of other changes occurring in Ontario. Premier McGuinty, the self-described ‘educa!on minister,’ was elected on promises to reduce tui!on by 30% but delivered a tui!on grant that excludes some of the most vulnerable students, includ-
ing students who have been out of high school for more than four years, interna!onal students, graduate students, part-!me students, and students pursuing second degrees in teaching, law and medicine. Ontario has highest tui!on fees and spends the least per full-!me post-secondary stu-
dent out of any province.
The result of these ongoing and proposed changes is an
increasingly polarized educa!on system where fewer low-income youth can a#end university, and those that can at-tend access lower quality educa!on in the form of online courses and take on more debt. Further, students and fac-
ulty are limited in what they can learn, teach and research by what is deemed innova!ve and profitable.
The province has clearly iden!fied the role they want unions to play in this process. In the report they write they expect unions and other stakeholder groups “to bargain re-
sponsibly and to consider aspects of collec!ve agreements that enhance produc!vity and facilitate transforma!on.” Rather than passively accept these proposed changes, TA unions are ideally placed to push for a different kind of thinking about educa!on in Ontario, as graduate students provide around 70% of the teaching happening at UofT.
Despite this, not all CUPE 3902 members are convinced of the their ability to make change in this respect, and many internal debates centred around the role of TAs in
the fight for quality of educa!on during last year’s round of bargaining. Although ini!ally holding smaller class sizes, and therefore quality of educa!on, as a crucial part of our bargaining proposals to UofT, our final contract made no major gains related to reducing tutorial sizes.
As McGuinty’s proposed changes begin to make their way across Ontario, the need for TA unions to join the fight for be#er post-secondary educa!on will only become clearer.
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
5
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
CUPE members recently par!cipated in two important conferences on the future of unionized academic work-
ers. The first conference, held August 2-4 in Vancouver, was put together by the Coali!on of Graduate Employees’ Union (CGEU) to brainstorm next steps and advance the causes of graduate employees across the United States and Canada. CUPE and BCGEU academic and support staff unions par!cipated in the conference and contributed to discussions about building campus solidarity in bargaining
and poli!cal ac!on.
CUPE 2278, graduate employees at the University of Brit-ish Columbia, co-hosted the conference with the Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU), who represent graduate em-
ployees at Simon Fraser University. Workshops were held on organizing, bargaining, job ac!on, coali!on building, local union democracy, and social media.
The plenary panels included presenta!ons on the current poli!cal and bargaining climate in B.C. Adrienne Smith, past president of CUPE 2278, presented on the power of democracy and organizing leading to a successful strike at UBC in 2003. Ac!vists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Oregon, and California offered presenta!ons on or-ganizing and the recent experiences of unionized gradu-
ate employees in the US.
Both the CGEU conference and the Coali!on of Con!n-
gent Academic Labour (COCAL) conference, held August 9-12 in Mexico City, featured powerful presenta!ons from the Coali!on large de l’ASSÉ (CLASSE), one of the three main student groups leading the Quebec student move-
ment to stop the province’s tui!on fee hike. The move-
ment spread quickly, gaining support from unions and so-
cial jus!ce ac!vists across Quebec and Canada.
The COCAL conference was co-hosted by the Sindicato de Trabajadores de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (STUNAM) and the Asociacion Autónoma del Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autóno-
ma de México (AAPAUNAM). This was the first !me these organiza!ons have hosted the annual COCAL conference, and by all accounts they did a tremendous job. Con!ngent faculty ac!vists and representa!ves from across North America par!cipated in presenta!ons and presented and interpreted in English, French, and Spanish.
Plenary sessions at COCAL covered changes in academic labour in the context of neoliberal globaliza!on, organiza-
!on and new forms of struggle by academic workers, and the culture and iden!ty of the new academic ci!zens in North America and the world.
Natalie Sharpe and Dougal MacDonald from CUPE 3911, Athabasca University, gave a compelling presenta!on on the deskilling of academic labour at AU, where manage-
ment announced plans to eliminate the tutor-learner
model by shi"ing courses to a call centre model.
Academic workers share struggles and strate-gies at international conferences
Left: The 10th annual
COCAL Conference
was held in Mexico
City at Autonomous
University of Mexico.
Right: CGEU-affiliated
locals at the University
of British Columbia in
Vancouver in Canada.
...
6
Working Groups Update
The new Unit 1 collec"ve agreement provides for the crea"on of three joint working groups with the employer:
a Working Group on Undergraduate Tutorials, a Provos"al commi!ee on Graduate Student Financial Support, and
a Working Group on Unit 1 Job Pos"ngs. These working groups are meant to address serious concerns raised during
bargaining that were not solved sa"sfactorily by the Ar"cles of the Collec"ve Agreement. We will con"nue to keep
you updated on the progress of these working groups.
Quality of Educa!on Working GroupOur side of the Quality of Educa!on Working Group consists of six mem-
bers. They have been mee!ng since early May. There have been two mee!ngs with the Employer, one in late June and one in late August.
These early mee!ngs have been fo-
cused on clarifying the meaning of
‘tutorial’ and what ac!vi!es it might
encompass. They have also been de-
veloping research ques!ons and data requirements to supplement the
2010 report of the Working Group on Undergraduate Tutorial Experience.
As tutorial quality was a major con-
cern during bargaining, the Work-
ing Group has priori!zed involving members of CUPE 3902 and other
members of the community, such as undergraduate students. So far, the Working Group has been solicit-ing feedback on tutorial experiences from undergraduate student lead-
ers and have met with a few under-grads to discuss their experiences. They are hoping to con!nue outreach and engagement in town halls during the Fall term.
The Provos!al Commi#ee on Gradu-
ate Student Funding (PCGSF) has not yet met. Indeed, the names of the representa!ves from the employer and the one student seat from the
Graduate Educa!on Council (GEC) were only determined in early July.
Grant Allen (Engineering), Rob Baker (Arts & Science), Roberta Fulthorpe (UTSC), Luc de Nil (Vice-Dean, Stu-
dents, SGS), Avrum Gotlieb (Medi-cine) and Jeanne Watson (OISE) will represent the Employer’s side of the Commi#ee.
Mohamed Soliman will represent the GEC. Nearly six months a"er the ra!fica!on of the new CA, the body responsible for naming Graduate Stu-
dent Union (GSU) reps – the General Council – has yet to do so. It is not clear why this is so. We encourage members to direct any inquiry in this
respect to departmental GSU reps.
Despite these delays, your CUPE reps have developed a pla+orm and iden-
!fied two key priori!es: the system of fees for senior students and the
balance between working hours and
fellowships. We have submi#ed a re-
quest for data in order to ensure that
the set of informa!on is correct and that the first mee!ng – delays not-withstanding – can be produc!ve.
Overall, the PCGSF has very impor-tant responsibili!es. It is our hope that promises will be kept, and that a willingness to work in good faith emerges from all sides.
Please direct inquiries to: Valen!na Fulgini! ([email protected]) and Wayne Dealy ([email protected]).
Provos!al Commi#ee on Graduate Student Funding
Job Pos!ngs Working GroupThe Job Pos!ngs working group is mandated to inves!gate the devel-opment of a “centralized, electronic system for pos!ng bargaining unit posi!ons.” Given the ad hoc and con-
fusing job pos!ng procedures in many departments, such a system has the
poten!al to significantly improve the ability of our members to find work they are qualified for.
Our four members of the Work-
ing Group have been ready to meet
since May, and the Employer has as-
sured us they will be ready to meet shortly. The Working Group is re-
quired to produce a recommenda-
!on within six months of the ra!fi-
ca!on of the Collec!ve Agreement.Please direct inquiries to: Mike Thicke ([email protected])
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
7
Bargaining Update
Currently three out of four of our units are in bargaining, or will be imminently. They are: CUPE 3902 Unit 2 (Victoria
University), Unit 3 (Contract Academic Workers), and Unit 4 (University of St. Michael’s College).
Unit 2This year, our Local’s Victoria Univer-sity workers will be bargaining for a new contract. On August 2, 2012 at a Unit mee!ng, we officially elected a Bargaining Team to begin the process
of bargaining in the Fall, comprised of four Unit 2 members, Laura Wil-
le#, Adleen Crapo, Emily Blakelock, and Sco# Marente#e, along with Shi-raz Vally (Staff Representa!ve), Kevin Robillard (Vice-Chair Unit 1 and Unit 2) and Abe Nasirzadeh (Chair). In the upcoming weeks, we will be work-
ing together with Unit 2 members to
survey the membership and develop
proposals to bring to the bargaining
table in the Fall. If you would like to get involved or are interested in sup-
por!ng Unit 2 bargaining please con-
tact Kevin Robillard, Vice Chair Unit 1 and Unit 2 at [email protected].
Unit 3, represen!ng Sessional Faculty members at UofT, has commenced bargaining toward a new Collec!ve Agreement. On Friday, August 24, the elected Unit 3 Bargaining Team met with the Employer for this first !me. Following brief introduc!ons, the par!es exchanged proposals and items for discussion and consider-
a!on over the coming months.
The Union tabled a 4-page pack-
age of proposals based on findings of ongoing research and discussions
with members throughout recent years, months and weeks. Priority areas, iden!fied my the membership through the bargaining survey, meet-ings and discussions, include job se-
curity, wages and benefits, and fair and equitable treatment.
Sessional Faculty are among the most precarious workers employed by the University of Toronto, o"en not knowing if they will be employed from term to term, o"en despite years of service at the university and
the high level of skill and dedica!on to teaching which characterise Unit 3 members. The Unit 3 contract expires on August 31, 2012.
Following our open le#er to the Col-legium of St. Michael’s College, Unit 4 bargaining has seen some movement
-- the Employer’s agents have at last dropped their opposi!on to reason-
able proposals.
At issue are the core principles of fair
and progressive discipline, academic freedom, compensa!on for extra work (e.g., serving on graduate com-
mi#ees), and leaves (maternity, pa-
rental, bereavement, conference).
They have also accepted language
that protects against the use of
complainants’ personal histories
in sexual harassment grievances. These gains are significant, but the Unit 4 Team is aware that an inor-dinate amount of !me (10 months) has been spent securing them.
Un!l recently, St. Michael’s agents have con!nually distracted from core issues by challenging standard
language present in all other CUPE 3902 contracts, by promising propos-
als and counter-proposals that never
appear, by promising to consult the employer without bringing back any response, and by retrac!ng agreed-upon language, bringing discussions back to square one. As we move at last to address those remaining issues
which are of great importance to our members -- in par!cular job security, wages, and benefits -- we hope St. Michael’s will con!nue to work with us to achieve a fair Collec!ve Agree-
ment as soon as possible.
Unit 3
Unit 4
The Guardian, Vol. 11, Issue 1, September 2012
Bargaining a new contract
requires ongoing dialogue,
commitment and support.
Announcements
Campus
PUBLICATIONS AGREEMENT NO. 40980032
RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO:
CUPE 3902803-180 BLOOR STREET WESTTORONTO ON M5S 2V6e-mail: [email protected]
The Queer Caucus of CUPE 3902 promotes equity, safety, and diversity within our Union, at UofT, and in the community.
This is a posi!ve space to meet other queer members, and an opportunity to talk about what we can do to address any ideas we have for the future. It is also a space to discuss
any issues of discrimina!on you’ve ex-
perienced in the workplace and how our Local can support queer members. We hope you make it out to one of our meet-ings. Watch for announcements soon.
Contact Abe Nasirzadeh at
[email protected] for more details.
A#en!on LGBTTIQQ2SA members!!!! We want you!!!
Division 4 Quality of Educa!on Working Group CalloutDue to scheduling conflicts, Sara Suliman has had to re-
sign her posi!on as Division 4 (Life Sciences) represen-
ta!ve on the Quality of Educa!on Working Group. The Execu!ve Commi#ee thanka Sara for all her hard work. We are seeking applicants to fill this posi!on on a tem-
porary basis, un!l the posi!on can be permanently
filled at the next Unit 1 Members’ Mee!ng this Fall. Applicants must be from Division 4 (Life Sciences).
To apply, please send your name, department, year, why
you are interested in the posi"on, and any relevant expe-
rience to recep"[email protected] by September 7th.
Upcoming Events
Contribute to The GuardianThe Guardian is a member-run newsle#er. We can-
not operate without the support and par!cipa!on of our membership. Please consider contribu!ng to The
Guardian by sending us a le#er, wri!ng an ar!cle re-
lated to the broad mission of CUPE 3902 or educa!on work, or joining the Editorial Board.
Contributors and volunteers please email Mike Thicke,
Editor-in-Chief, at [email protected].
You can also visit The Guardian online
at www.cupe3902.org/guardian.
Late September Back-to-Work BBQ Loca!on TBDTuesday, October 16th, 4pm-5pm Unit 1 Members’ Mee!ng Hart House Music RoomTuesday, October 16th, 5pm-8pm General Members’ Mee!ng Hart House Music RoomThursday, October 18th, 5pm-8pm Unit 3 Members’ Mee!ng Hart House South Dining RoomWednesday, November 21, 5pm-8pm General Member’s Mee!ng Hart House Debates Room
Check www.cupe3902.org for more informa�on on upcoming events.