Dispute with university board ends in striker’s exit
Among the casualties of the strike by Carleton University’s support staff is one of the school’s governors.
Clair Switzer, who served on the 32-person board as one of its two non-faculty staff members, resigned her seat Wednesday after being told her membership in the striking CUPE 2424 local put her in a conflict of interest.
Switzer, an acquisitions financial supervisor with the university’s library technical services and a university employee for the past decade, joined the board in 2015 because she wanted to see all sides of operating the school. Her threeyear term on the board was set to end June 30.
“It was a great experience and I enjoyed my time on the board,” she said from the picket line Thursday. “Highs and lows, for sure, but we got to an impasse.”
As a member of both the board and the union, Switzer said she faced a great deal of soul-searching, and on Tuesday she sent a letter to the board office stating she felt she would have to recuse herself should the matter arise in a board meeting.
In her letter, she encouraged board members who might be interested in seeing the labour issue from the union members’ view to watch videos the local posted.
“I think the board, unfortunately, is insulated,” she said. “They’re sheltered. They’re getting the side that the university is choosing to give them.”
Shortly after sending her letter, Switzer said she received a reply from Carleton’s counsel indicating she was in a conflict of interest and that her letter would not be shared.
“So I thought, ‘If I can’t even have a voice as a representative of non-academic staff on campus, in the board to which I was elected, then why am I on the board? I’m going to resign my seat and make sure I have a voice as a CUPE 2424 member.’ ”
When asked for comment, the university replied: “The board chair is thankful to Clair Switzer for her contributions as a governor on the Carleton board of governors for nearly three years ... her term was to end on June 30, 2018. The nomination process to replace her had already been approved and the election will be held this spring.”