Carleton students’ frustration mounts as strike drags on
University’s support workers ready to dig in over pension protection
The little frustrations and inconveniences prompted by a Carleton University support workers’ strike are starting to pile up, say students.
Among the issues: No buses enter the campus because of the picket lines. For those who drive, it takes at least a half-hour wait to get past the lines at both entrances to the university.
The library, usually open 24 hours a day during the exam period, has reduced hours and services. Equipment can’t be signed out. Science and engineering labs have been cancelled. Anything that gets broken stays broken. And students are worried that the uncertainty may make it harder to make arrangements for summer jobs.
“I had a tutorial that was held in a hallway because the classroom was locked,” said Mychelle Zabah, a first-year law student. “It’s like a chain reaction. The teaching assistants are affected because the administrative staff is on strike.”
A lot of students don’t get to class on time and miss material, said Lojain Mandanas, a fourth-year law student. “It’s the most inconvenient in the morning.”
Meanwhile, students say questions about registration for summer courses and student assistance have gone unanswered — and they wonder how the strike is affecting offers of admission for next September.
“The phones will ring, but no one is picking up,” said Andrea Scott, a first-year criminology student.
The strike is now in its third week. Almost 850 university support workers, library staff and administrative staff, ranging from sex assault counsellors to lab technicians, hit the picket lines after negotiations broke down in the early morning hours of March 5. The key issue is contract language in pension protections.
On March 6, Carleton’s interim president, Alastair Summerlee, sent a letter to union members, outlining details of the university’s rejected contract proposal. Summerlee said the university gave assurances that the pension committee would still consist of half administration and half union members, and the university’s offer included assurances there would be no changes to the pension plan. The university ’s offer included a salary increase of 5.4 per cent over the three-year contract.
Last week, CUPE 2424 filed a complaint with the Ontario Labour Relations Board, accusing the university of making a series of “knowingly false and/or misleading communications.”
The union and the university met with a mediator for 14 hours on Sunday, but both sides were still at an impasse and the workers returned to the picket lines on Monday.
On Tuesday, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh rallied the striking workers at the Bronson entrance to the university, touching on the theme of precarious employment in the post-secondary sector.
“To support a bright future, we know that we need a robust postsecondary education system,” Singh told the cheering workers. “To ensure that the future is bright for students, for our country, we have to make sure that the institution is robust. We need workers who are respected, who are treated with dignity.”
Most issues have already been resolved, except for the pension protections, CUPE 2424 president Jerrett Clark said. Both sides say there are no plans to return to bargaining.
The university is continuing to review applications and process offers of admission, but response times may be longer than usual, said the university’s communications director, Don Cumming.
The strike has required the university to cancel some labs for safety reasons, he said.
“Once the labour disruption has ended, the faculty will determine how lab marks will be adjusted and will communicate this information to affected students. All regularly scheduled classes, seminars and tutorials have assigned space and are expected to take place.”
April examinations will continue as scheduled. The locations for formally scheduled exams were posted last Friday.
While students are grumbling about getting a partial tuition rebate, Cumming said that has not been addressed “because the university’s priority is to focus on ensuring classes continue as scheduled and students receive support; their academics and well-being are our highest priority.”
Some students say they’re not concerned about the strike’s impact yet. And they have sympathy for the striking workers. “I understand why they’re picketing. I would care about my pension, too,” Mandanas said.
The workers say they’re prepared to dig in for a long time.
Library technician Mamta Pathak has worked at the university for 31 years and has been on strike twice before. “Last time, it was over a one- or two-per-cent pay increase. This is much more fundamental,” she said. “If you gave your money to your pension plan, you gave it in good faith. We need that money back. If it weren’t for the pensions, we wouldn’t be here. It’s the only thing that’s still on the table. People are willing to be here as long as necessary. It’s our money.”
If the pensions language were removed, the university “would be up to something and will do something we have no control over,” said web architect Andrew Riddles, who has worked at Carleton for about 10 years.
“I have a feeling we’ll stay out here as long as it takes.”