CUPE 2278, the local of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) that represents TAs and GAAs, announced last week that members will vote in mid-September on whether they should go on strike.
Just a month ago, CUPE 2278 had filed for third-party mediation, alleging UBC was not “engaging seriously” with their proposals, which include employer-paid health care, balancing workload, higher wages, academic freedom protections and ending minimum funding clawbacks.
Clawbacks happen when the university discounts portions of research funding because recipients have been awarded that amount elsewhere (from Tri-Agency grants, for example).
"While job action is always a last resort, we must be united and prepared should it become necessary," the local said in its Aug. 20 strike vote notice.
In an interview with The Ubyssey, CUPE 2278 Vice-President Drew Hall said that after the first mediation session, “it became pretty clear quite quickly that UBC was unwilling to make any progress on the key issues.” They said the university “refused” to talk about class sizes, TA hours, clawbacks and academic freedom.
“There wasn't any movement on any of our issues," they said.
Hall said CUPE 2278 is still asking for 75 per cent employer-paid health care — a benefit TAs at Simon Fraser University have access to — adding that their “members shouldn't be going into medical debt because they can't afford expenses that aren't covered by the student plan.”
Raising pay for GAAs, protecting academic freedom, balancing TAs’ workloads and ending clawbacks have remained as they were when CUPE 2278 filed for mediation in mid-July.
In a statement to The Ubyssey, UBC spokesperson Erik Rolfsen wrote that the university “remains committed to reaching an agreement with CUPE 2278 and we look forward to engaging in further bargaining with the union, either directly or through mediation.”
Rolfsen did not answer whether the university has plans in place for a TA strike or how learning continuity would be maintained with a mid-semester strike.
CUPE 2278’s vote — by secret ballot — will take place in-person and on-campus from Sept. 21–25. If successful, the vote will give the union the power to call a strike with 72 hours' notice within a three-month period following the vote.
Hall is encouraging CUPE 2278 members to vote “yes.”
“A ‘yes’ in the strike vote puts us in the strongest possible position when we go back to the negotiating table with UBC. It is a show of the solidarity and strength of our union. It ultimately will put pressure on UBC to reconsider their bargaining position and it shows them that our members are not willing to stand for a contract that doesn't meet their needs,” Hall said.
Graduate Student Society President Hayley Lawrence told The Ubyssey that GSS Council’s decision to endorse the “yes” at its Aug. 20 meeting aims to “present a united front to the university.”
Lawrence and GSS Councillor Bryan Buraga said the GSS shares CUPE 2278’s concerns about academic freedom, health care, workload and clawbacks.
“I'm putting my trust in CUPE 2278 because if UBC was willing to bargain, I don't think they would be at an impasse right now,” Lawrence said.
Hall said that while the union hopes to return to the bargaining table, they are “preparing for the worst” — a TA strike.
CUPE 2278 last went on strike in late October 2012. They were demanding higher wages, tuition waivers and priority hiring for fifth-year PhD students and third-year master’s students. After two weeks of job action that continued throughout mediation, they only got priority hiring for doctoral students.
When asked about how a strike may affect course delivery, Hall said CUPE 2278 is “fighting” for issues that affect more than just their members. Chief among those issues is class sizes, which they said are ultimately an issue of education quality.
“When there [are] more students and less TA hours, TAs are forced to work more … that means there's less time to provide feedback for students, less time to hold office hours [and] less time to know students' names, and that ultimately results in an educational experience that's impersonal and ineffective,” said Hall.
