Canadian Sessionals Set to Strike

IN LATE NOVEMBER, sessional lecturers at Carleton University in Ottowa voted 84 percent in favor of strike action. The proposed strike date is January 15, 2003.

“Sessional lecturers are tired of being treated like cheap labor at Carleton,” says Fred Schultz, president of Local 4600 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 350 sessional lecturers at Carleton.

Local 4600 also represents 1200 teaching assistants who previously voted to strike if a deal cannot be reached.

“This administration has not adequately prepared for the double cohort that will put a tremendous strain on our university,” says Schultz.

“Sessionals do much of the same work professors do at the university and have really no job security,” says Schultz. “The university pays no attention to professional development for sessionals and has not dealt with the issue of increasing class sizes–these issues affect every student at Carleton.”

“We have seen indications the university is prepared to use scabs to do the work of striking workers–that would be an attack on Carleton workers that would poison labor relations at the institution for many years to come,” warns John Gillies, CUPE National Representative.

“It’s time for Carleton to bargain fairly with us, or we will shut the university down–we’ll have no choice,” says Gillies.

“By courting scab labor and refusing to bargain fairly, Carleton is pushing for a strike that will hurt everyone at the university–and that’s something we don’t want,” says Schultz. “We have strong strike mandates–and that means chaos for the university if a settlement cannot be reached soon.”