WUFA gains support from across Canada
By Ryan Rogers
Editor-in-Chief
September 24, 2008
 Last Wednesday, Sept. 17 just after 2 a.m., the Windsor University Faculty Association and the administration of the University of Windsor met an impasse in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, and the WUFA exercised their legal right to strike, canceling all classes and labs.
The past contract between WUFA and UWindsor expired on June 30, 2008, and the two teams had been in negotiations to reach a new agreement since June 3, when the two sides exchanged proposal packages. A month later, contract talks broke off, and the administration requested a conciliator to help the process along.
With no end to the contract negotiations in sight, WUFA conducted a strike vote on September 4, which was overwhelmingly approved by 96 per cent.
The first morning of the strike, approximately 600 WUFA members and supporters assembled outside Chrysler Tower and marched around the campus.
UWindsor sent out a notification to all students that classes were cancelled. The usually busy student traffic around campus came to a standstill.
On the first day of the strike, University of Windsor President Alan Wildeman released a statement highlighting some of the issues that were holding the negotiations up. The letter indicated, “It is … essential that we address rumours that persist and that detract from everyone’s goals of reaching a settlement.”
Wildeman indicated that “the University gained an appreciation of WUFA’s position,” on a series of issues, and were willing take those items off the table. These issues included the calculation of the Windsor Salary Standard, the hiring of teaching-only members of the faculty, and a “matter of concern to WUFA members regarding research was that one of the consequences of them withdrawing services would be that while they are on strike the University would not sign applications for research funding.”
On these issues, the letter indicated that the administration would “re-evaluate its position on this and any other issues related to its operations during a strike.”
The matter of not allowing professors to get their grant applications signed without crossing the picket line was a major point of contest from the WUFA. Picket signs called for the resignation of University of Windsor, provost and vice-president academic, Neil Gold.
Gold sent out the email which stated, “Research grant applications must be signed by your Dean (whether or not required by the application) and Vice-President, Research or Office of Research Services (as required) and will only be signed if you have signed the ‘Notification of Intention to Continue All Normal Duties in the Event of a WUFA strike” form, have reported to your Dean and are performing duties assigned.”
In response, the president of the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), Jim Turk, commented, “I am speechless that any university would, in a short-term dispute over a collective agreement, threaten the long-term future of the faculty and of the university by blocking new research grant applications.” Turk has threatened a motion of censure against the University of Windsor at their upcoming CAUT council meeting.
The CAUT Defense Fund (CAUTDF) also organized a flying picket and presented a $1 million line of credit to support WUFA at a rally held on Friday. Representatives from many faculty associations across the country also joined the rally and donated thousands of dollars in support of the WUFA.
Peter Simpson, the secretary of the CAUTDF, said that the $1 million is a symbolic gesture. “Should they need $2 million, they cold have it. There’s approximately $20 million in the fund. The point is to symbolize by exceeding what they need right now, is to symbolize the extent of support,” said Simpson.
Many supporters demonstrated their shared commitment to the WUFA’s strike at the rally on Friday. Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) president Ken Lewenza, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Joe Comartin and Windsor-West MP Brian Masse all shared words with the assembled crowd encouraging all members to stand behind their unions and not to cross the picket lines.
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