Joint Letter to President Bacon from the Unions and Associations of Carleton University

Joint Letter to President Bacon from the Unions and Associations of Carleton University

Benoit-Antoine Bacon
President & Vice-Chancellor
Carleton University

August 6, 2019

Dear President Bacon:

We are writing to you as the Presidents of the Unions and Associations representing faculty, staff, and students at Carleton University.

We are the faculty, the instructors, the contract instructors, the librarians, the administrative staff, the support staff, the workers, the postdocs, and students that make Carleton University the institution it is. The work and the learning we do is essential to the campus community. We are Carleton.

We are gravely concerned about the changes announced in the provincial budget affecting the postsecondary education sector, including:

cutting domestic tuition fees by 10% while not increasing operating grants
cutting $670 million from OSAP
threatening student unions and the services they provide by making some student fees voluntary
tying 60% of university funding to performance-based metrics over the next five years
cuts causing the unexpected winding down of provincial research grants, affecting the contracts of precarious workers like research assistants and postdocs;
overriding negotiated collective agreements to cut salary to employees who are mandated by law to draw a pension at age 71
unfairly interfering with the parties’ rights to free bargaining

We believe these changes will have an adverse affect on Carleton University and on the postsecondary education sector. We call on the Carleton administration to commit to supporting its faculty, staff, and students.

We request the opportunity to meet with you to raise our concerns about the impact these changes will have on Carleton, and on the members and students we represent. We want to know how you, as the President, plan to respond to the provincial government’s changes. It is essential that we know how you will work to protect the integrity of Carleton’s academic autonomy from the province, and maintain the university as an institution for learning and growth.

Sincerely,

Lily Akagbosu
President, CUSA

Jerrett Clark
President, CUPE 2424

Ashley Courchene
President, GSA

David Duncan
President, CUPE 3778

Alberto Tonero
Vice-President, PSAC 77000

Angelo Mingarelli
President, CUASA

Meg Lonergan
President, CUPE 4600

Michael Radcliffe
President, OPSEU 404

Arthur Ullett
President, CUPE 910

CC: Jerry Tomberlin, Provost & Vice-President (Academic)
Michel Piché, Vice-President (Finance & Administration)
Suzanne Blanchard, Vice-President (Students & Enrolment)
Rafik Goubran, Vice-President (Research & International)

To view a PDF copy of this letter, click here.