Dear Sheridan Faculty,
It was great to be in the company of colleagues. Sheridan people everywhere, especially stage right between the Statue of Premier Sir James Pliny Whitney and the pizza tents. I met a dozen or so Local Union presidents from across the province, from as far away as the Sault, Algonquin, and Niagara colleges, who set out in the dark of the night to get to our gathering on time. And our GTA colleagues who came in throngs marching to a drum beat up University Avenue. A human mass at first, in the distance chanting “What do we want?” and answering “Fair Work, Now”. There is a short video of the approach and pictures on our blog.
Then signs like we’ve been carrying all week came into focus above the hatted and tuqued heads of our GTA colleagues walking shoulder to shoulder up University. Like a liquid they poured from the wide Avenue onto the sidewalks of Queens Park and blended in with we bus, train and car arrivals. Sheridan came in four buses, and by road and rail, and many of our colleagues walked in with our GTA college peers near whom they live and picket. We were everywhere, including being at the pinnacle of the CAAT-A pursuit of collegial governance.
Great speakers followed, all hitting the high notes of our calling and contribution to Ontario. With good wishes from our peers in Denmark and Australia and educational groups across Canada they articulated our cause for academic freedom and collegial governance and our worry about precarious work. My favourite was the student speaker, I wish I could remember her name. But her good wishes were like the conductor of the many supportive placards of students who came to march in solidarity with us.
And then I was jolted back to reality by a politician. Her words showed how politicians don’t understand the unique contribution that advanced education and apprenticeship makes to our social fabric. The NDP Leader didn’t do her homework. She repeatedly called us instructors. “Instructor” is a category in our Collective Agreement, that has a lower pay scale than “Professor”, and Instructors are not responsible for writing curriculum. Here we are fighting for more curricula control and she took away what little legislated control we have. And she forgot our librarians and counsellors, who, as we all know, complete the educational package we deliver. We didn’t need to be plied with political opportunism and generalized bromides that dragged on as long as all the other guest speakers combined!
So, we wait, in the hope that the one thing our current gaggle of politicians in power will realize, is our synchronicity with public sentiments, of the dangers of a workforce of precarious employment. We who shape the future, won’t stand for it. Are we the last best hope for a future of secure employment for Ontario’s children? If not, we are surely amongst the last few making a stand. Let us stay united, in our students’ cause!
Standing tall together,
Jack
Jack Urowitz,
President, OPSEU Local 244
Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065