UNBC students once again march in support of the faculty, as the strike enters its sixth day.
A group of students gathered downtown at Community Foundation Park this morning (Nov. 12) to march down to the Wood Innovation and Design Centre to join faculty on the picket line.
“We don’t want to be out here, we want to be in class so we want to encourage those at the table to fix it,” says Natural Resource and Environmental Studies (NRES) graduate student Rachelle Linde. “There’s a lot on the line for individuals as well as the university as a whole.”
Linde says she and fellow NRES graduate student Christopher Morgan aren’t able to work on preparing their project proposals because they can’t be at the university or consult with their professor.
“From a selfish perspective, this could totally make our semester null,” says Morgan. “We won’t get credit for it, and sure maybe we’ll get a refund for our tuition, but it still sets us back for months in life essentially.”
Morgan adds that they are also supporting the UNBC Faculty Association (UNBCFA) to have a fair wage so the university can continue to attract and retain new and valuable professors.
“If this continues and professors end up leaving then our degrees are essentially worth less in the end because we don’t have that same level of prestige because we don’t have that calibre of professors that are coming here and staying here.”
Linde says the students are feeling a lot of frustration and disappointment.
She was also a student during the first strike in 2015, which lasted two weeks and ended with binding arbitration through a process only used with first collective agreements.
The UNBCFA became a certified union in 2014.
“It was devastating to my semester then and I don’t want to have to deal with that a second time and I don’t think I am alone in that,” says Linde.
“Even if there are individuals who don’t support one side or the other, we just want to be back in class so it’s frustration, it’s a disappointment but also a strong amount of enthusiasm to get this over with.”
UNBCFA says they’ve been joined on the picket lines by CUPE 3799, CUPE 2278, and Unite Here! Local 40, as well as supporters from the BC Teachers Federation, the Pulp and Paper Workers, the Steel Workers, and many others.
UNBCFA is demanding the UNBC Board of Governors offer faculty sector-norm salaries without requiring concession rights.
“The ability of professors to co-manage a university is a fundamental pillar of academic governance, and any attempt to erode this leads inevitably to decreases in academic quality and standards,” says UNBCFA in a news release.
“UNBC faculty stand for a strong and vibrant university in our community; not only for our current students, but for our future students as well. We call on the Board to direct their bargaining team to bring proposals that strengthen the role of faculty in governance.”
The bargaining will resume meetings later today.
