I remember when the university was being built. I was in elementary school and it felt like the whole town was a part of the construction. We were going to be a part of something grand: we were going to have a university! Students who wanted to complete their degrees didn't have to move away from the region. It was, and still is, exciting.
When I moved from Victoria to Prince George, I was so excited when I got my job at UNBC. And although I no longer work at UNBC, I still love it. I love the community, my colleagues, the faculty and the school. UNBC has seen me through my pregnancies, my babies, professional ups and downs and now, my graduate degree. I have made lifelong friends and learned more about myself as a result of this wonderful institution than I would care to admit. I want to be upfront and clear that I love UNBC.
If I was still working at UNBC, this would have been my fourth strike in ten years. What does that tell us?
It tells us that there is something rotten at the heart of the bargaining process at UNBC.
I have heard reports that senior university officials have stormed out of bargaining meetings and chastised members of the faculty bargaining team for responding too quickly to proposals and counter-offers. If this is true, and I have no reason to not believe it, I find it exceptionally embarrassing to know that grown-ups who are responsible for bargaining on behalf of the institution are acting this way.
Isn't speed necessary and appreciated? Are there toddlers in the meetings bargaining on behalf of the university because, last I checked, everyone involved is an adult earning a professional wage. People, many people, have been out of work for over two weeks - everyone except for members of the executive team.
For every strike that I have participated in, (two CUPE strikes and one Faculty Association strike), I have suffered financially and now, over 500 people have been without a paycheque with only a month left until Christmas. I don't know about you readers, but I would be hurting without a paycheque - particularly so close to Christmas.
Students want to go back to class; faculty members want to go back to class; CUPE members want (need) to go back to work. And in the end, the executive and exempt staff are still getting paid and the university is saving money by not paying everyone else. I can guarantee that there are people within the executive team at UNBC who have the best interests of the institution, and the community, in their hearts. I want to, as a student, appeal to your better angels and remember that, at the end of the day, we all still live in and belong to the same community.
I no longer work for UNBC but I still love it and believe that we can do better to sustain our fabulous research university.
Get your act together, UNBC, and work towards what is right and what is fair for its faculty, staff and students.
Prove to the community that you care.
To my brothers and sisters on the line, stay strong, stay warm and I am with you in solidarity.
