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Dear Members,
While we’d all much rather be teaching than walking a picket line, our members showed up in force today! We should be proud of our collective resolve as we took the unprecedented step of going on strike. This marks the first time the teaching assistants have gone on strike and the longest strike ever for contract instructors.
We saw unprecedented support from other on campus unions like CUASA (full-time faculty) and CUPE 2424 (admin staff) as well as a number of unions and community organizations throughout the city. We also saw the rapid cancellation or postponement of numerous events that were set to take place at Carleton this week in a show of solidarity.
Today we’ve shown the administration that we mean business and the bargaining teams are awaiting their invitation back to the bargaining table with a fair deal on intellectual property, TA-student ratios, and wages across both units.
No bargaining took place today as the employer was busy fielding an outstanding holiday pay grievance for both units that they’ve been dragging their feet on for nearly two years. We will share the outcome of this arbitration meeting soon!
We anticipate that we’ll be back at the bargaining table to resolve this impasse soon as long as we all keep the pressure up! You will hear from us as soon as we have further information.
For now, we're still on strike! Make sure to show up for your scheduled picket shifts tomorrow!
Other things you should be doing:
Unit 1: Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants, and Service Assistants
Withhold your labour! Even if you cannot walk the picket line daily, the most important thing you can do is not cross our picket line, in person or digitally. Do not host tutorials, do not grade assignments, and do not meet with students. Post to socials and encourage your colleagues, friends, and family to sign our solidarity petition.
Unit 2: Contract Instructors
Withhold your labour! Even if you cannot walk the picket line daily, the most important thing you can do is not cross the picket line, in person or digitally. Do not teach classes, do not accept assignments, do not meet students, and do not request your TAs to either. We have an updated “automatic reply” message to set on your email for the duration of the strike here. We are encouraging all members to switch your BrightSpace courses to “Inactive” by unchecking the “Active” button on the ‘Course Offering Information’ page of each course you teach (instructions here). Further instruction about the potential removal of grades and course materials from BrightSpace forthcoming should the strike continue more than a couple days. Post to socials and encourage your colleagues, friends, and family to sign our solidarity petition.
In Solidarity
CUPE 4600
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