- Week 3: Day 2

The Strike Forum and Rally

Friends, allies, colleagues, lend me your ears,
 
I came to bury Caesar, not praise him –
but no one died and no one wore a laurel wreath
in the Sheridan Strike Open Forum tonight.
 
When I first heard about it yesterday, I wrote the following to the SSU and received the answer below.

Jack Urowitz‎ to Sheridan Student Union Inc.
Yesterday at 14:41 · 
The SSU has not invited anyone to speak for Faculty's position on November 1. Do you think you will get both sides of the issues with only speakers for the Administration?
As the president of the Faculty Union, I'd be glad to attend as a Faculty representative, perhaps with a member of our Bargaining Team, if it's not already too late to extend an invitation.
 
Sheridan Student Union Inc. Hi Jack,
Thank you for your comment. The purpose of the forum is to focus on the impact of the strike on students’ lives and to let families know about the ongoing support that Sheridan is providing. The forum has not been created to discuss bargaining issues. As such, our panelists represent different areas of Sheridan who can speak to work that is currently being done in their areas to continue to support our students.
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 · Reply · 5 hrs
 
And that’s about what happened. The YouTube viewer tally hovered around 265 (the union email announcing the live stream earlier today went out to 950 professors) and from what I could see, the audience in the room was somewhere around 30 or 40 at most. The panel did focus on student issues alone and Janet gave due respect to Faculty’s excellence, integrity and mastery of our curriculum. And that we put students at the centre of our pedagogical planning.
 
Perhaps some will find fault with some turn of phrase Janet used, but to my mind, overall, she was at least diplomatic, perhaps even genuinely accepting of something bigger than her. Of course, a real teacher would have found a lesson to give to the questioning ingenuous students. If I had been on the panel, and I have said this in two student interviews, there is a great learning experience in being any part of a strike. The importance and legal right of labour to speak in one voice, with words and actions of consequence, is a cornerstone of the free world. No mention of Lech Walesa from that dais.
 
It was said a couple times from panel members, that no work stoppage in the college system (this is the fourth) has ever caused the loss of a semester. Is that a hope, or do they know something we don’t about the Council’s timelines?
 
And now for something completely more important. We have a rally on Thursday, at the legislature, Queens Park, followed by a march to the Ministry at 900 Bay Street. We need 5000+ to look like a formidable political force; 10,000 would be better.
 
The 9:00 AM buses (one for each campus) are filling up; you can still sign up for the free ride to and from downtown until last shift tomorrowTuesday. Or you can make your own way down. Either way please be there. Press coverage and numbers mean something, especially with an election looming in this academic year.
 
To encourage a large turnout, we are canceling picketing at Sheridan on Thursday, and giving everyone two shifts (8 hours) of picketing credit. Just sign the attendance for Thursday at your last shift before Thursday. If that’s not possible please contact your picket captain and make arrangements. If you are on accommodation you will get the same credit for your epicketing and alternate duties.
 
Speaking of press coverage – here’s some responsible journalism:
 
Don’t worry about the comment that the union Bargaining Team has gone home. While Council is being paid in full to do nothing, our team members are all back marching on their own picket lines, and like us all, not being paid. But they can be back at the table in Toronto in less than two hours.
 
Scary times, and Halloween tomorrow. Dress up, dress warmly, take care of each other.
 
Stay strong,
 
Jack

Jack Urowitz,
President, OPSEU Local 244
Sheridan Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
(905) 845-9430 Extension 2832
Union Office 4065