The Communiqué: Volume 46, No. 18 – June 7, 2024
In this Issue:
- CUASA Office closure June 13-14
- ICYMI: Bill 124 Agreement Ratified
- Get involved: Volunteer opportunities at CUASA
- Attending Congress 2024?
- Updates from OCUFA and CAUT
CUASA Office closure June 13-14
Please note the CUASA Office will be closed next Thursday, June 13, and Friday June 14, as staff will be attending the annual Canadian Organization of Faculty Association Staff (COFAS) conference in St. John’s, NL. The office will reopen on Monday, June 17, at 9:00am.
Should you have an urgent matter while the office is closed, please contact Executive Director Jaye Horton at [email protected] and include *URGENT* in the subject line.
ICYMI: Bill 124 Agreement Ratified
We are pleased to announce that Carleton’s Board of Governors ratified an agreement on May 28 to address the Ontario government’s repeal of Bill 124. Ratification by the Board follows ratification by CUASA Council on May 16.
Implementation of the agreement will be completed within seventy-five (75) days. Additional details will be shared with CUASA members as they become available.
The University and CUASA extend a special thanks to their teams for reaching this agreement.
Pauline Rankin
Provost and Vice-President (Academic), Carleton University
Dominique Marshall
President, CUASA
Get involved: Volunteer opportunities at CUASA
The Association is as strong as its membership, so we count on the time, ideas and commitment of members to achieve and update CUASA’s goals. If you’d like to contribute to CUASA’s work and positions, here are some ways you can help:
… join the CUASA Steering Committee
We are still accepting nominations for the following positions (click on the position title to view the description):
All nominations must be made using the form found here. All nomination forms must include the signatures of the nominee and two Association members as nominators. Please send completed forms to [email protected].
… volunteer on the Grievance Policy and Administration Committee
This Committee helps to set CUASA policy on how to handle member grievances, and works with CUASA staff to support members during the grievance process. The committee meets once a month during the academic year.
… serve as a member of Anti-Racism Working Group
This Working Group is open to any CUASA member interested in addressing the issue of racism at Carleton. It usually meets once a month during the academic year.
… join one of our Caucus Groups
CUASA’s 2SLBGTQIA+ Pride Caucus and Disability Caucus are now meeting regularly, and we are happy to welcome new members. These caucus groups are intended to be a way for people from equity-seeking groups to find community connections, socialize, organize, support one another, and share ideas with each other and with CUASA. These groups usually meet once a month.
For more information, or to volunteer for any of these positions, please contact the CUASA Office at [email protected]. If you are interested in participating in a caucus group, please contact our Equity and Member Services Officer, Max López, at [email protected] for more details.
Attending Congress 2024?
Are you planning to attend the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2024 in Montreal?
As you may be aware, the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL/AMPD) has been on strike since April 24 in an attempt to secure its first ever collective agreement. Despite AMPL/AMPD’s repeated offers to meet with the employer to secure a collective agreement before graduation and before Congress, the McGill administration refused to meet at all between April 24 and June 7.
AMPL/AMPD considers that participation in Congress is crossing a picket line. Nonetheless, it recognizes that it is very difficult for some associations. If you must attend an event on the McGill campus during Congress, AMPL/AMPD requests that you please use a picket pass.
Picket passes will be available with priority for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and non-tenure-track contract academic staff. Members of scholarly associations who have expressed public solidarity with us and minimized their presence on the McGill campus will also be able to obtain picket passes. Individuals who hold picket passes will be deemed not to be crossing picket lines. Attendees at events that are aligned with AMPL’s equity objectives will be issued with picket passes upon request.
For more information, including how to receive a picket pass, AMPL/AMPD has put together an FAQ webpage for Congress participants.
CUASA continues to stand in solidarity with AMPL/AMPD. Earlier this week, following an initial $1,000 Solidarity contribution to the AMPL/AMPD, CUASA authorized an additional $1,000 in recognition of the extraordinary importance of seeing our colleagues succeed in their first contract campaign.
We call on the McGill administration to return to the table and negotiate in good faith with AMPL/AMPD. We also encourage CUASA members attending Congress this year to respect the AMPL/AMPD picket lines – do not attend events on McGill’s campus if possible, and secure a picket pass from AMPL/AMPD if you must. Please contact CUASA’s President, Dominique Marshall at [email protected] before Friday 14 June, if you would like to collect a CUASA flag, badge or poster on campus to bring with you to Montreal.
OCUFA has also expressed solidarity with AMPL/AMPD and has called for the Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences and its member associations to move events of the 2024 Congress off the McGill campus during the strike.
Updates from OCUFA and CAUT
OCUFA Board Motion: Caste Discrimination
At its meeting of May 25-26, the OCUFA Board of Directors passed the following motion on Caste Discrimination:
WHEREAS the Caste system is rooted in classism and was reinforced through colonial practices and promotes discrimination against people born to lower castes, especially Dalit or ‘untouchables’;
WHEREAS the Caste system, while rooted in India, has travelled with the Indian diaspora and its effects are felt throughout the diasporic community in Canada including direct impacts on our own members who come from lower Castes;
In keeping with OHRC’s policy position on caste-based discrimination dated October 26, 2023, BE IT RESOLVED THAT OCUFA condemns the Caste system, Caste-based discrimination and colorism and calls on our member organizations to include Caste-based discrimination in their respective anti-discrimination policies and collective agreements.
CUASA’s Chair, Grievance Policy and Administration, Chinnaiah Jangam, played a key role in bringing this to the OCUFA Grievance Committee, which subsequently brought the motion before the Board. Thanks, Chinnaiah and OCUFA, for your work on this important issue!
Students, academic staff to intervene in U of T encampment hearing
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), the Canadian Federation of Students–Ontario (CFS-O), and the Centre for Free Expression (CFE) were jointly granted intervenor status in the University of Toronto’s request for an injunction to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment on its main campus.
The three organizations will argue that academic freedom and the Charter-protected right to freedom of expression will be harmed should the injunction be granted. The hearing is set for June 19 and 20.
University administrators are asking the court to authorize the forcible removal and arrest of peaceful protesters, claiming that the encampment is causing irreparable harm to the institution.
Read the full statement from CAUT.
CAUT June Advocate
Every month CAUT issues a newsletter with the latest CAUT and post-secondary education sector news.
In the June issue:
- CCAA changes to protect universities and colleges passes in House of Commons
- CAUT defends the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protests on campus
- Call on the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences to respect AMPL
- Université de Hearst academic staff demand collegial governance protection
- Submission to the Standing Committee on Official Languages
- Online harms bill: Joint letter urges separation of controversial provisions
- Sign the Hassan Diab Support Committee parliamentary petition
- CAUT Bulletin call for contributions
The Communiqué is published by the Carleton University Academic Staff Association. Past issues are archived on our website at CUASA.ca.
The Communiqué publishes CUASA-related news and information for our members.
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