TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Teaching Support Staff Union: Job Action Town Hall October 18, 2012

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Teaching Support Staff Union: Contract Committee Report

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Who we are: Derek Sahota (TA, Physics) Jeff Zurek (TA, Sessional, Earth Sciences) Joel (TA, Communications, Chief Steward) Kyle (TA, Chemistry) Donna (TA, Physics) Colin (TA, Sociology & Anthropology) Orion (Sessional, English) Beth (ELC/ITP) Scott (ELC/ITP) Karen Dean (Member representative, resource person)

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors What is the contract committee? Elected group from across the membership representing all the different groups Responsible for: – coming up with proposals – Being at the bargaining table day in and day out (over 40 dates so far) – Reaching a tentative agreement with the employer that the membership votes on.

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Facts, Numbers and Statistics

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Why We Should Care... [5] “Living Costs,” TSSU research,

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Sessional Reality From Sessionals taught 5902 sections at SFU. These sections contained 264,675 students. These students paid $180 million in tuition to SFU. Sessionals received about $30 million in pay and benefits. Sessionals now do about 22% of the teaching at SFU. [11] “Sessiontal Teaching Load”,

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Is there money to fund teaching? Yes 1. Huge increases in international undergraduates (250% over 7 years) [7] 2. Huge increases in tuition revenue (58% over 7 years) [8] [7] [8] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Are students being respected? NO 1.TA budget has decreased as a portion of tuition revenue, (was 8% now 6.4% of budget) [9] 2.The percentage of TA’s going to students has decreased (was 95% now 90%) [10] [9] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at [10] Calculation and excel spreadsheet available at

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Our Proposals

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Teaching Assistant (TA) Proposals Give students priority to TA work outside their dept. Use an already existing, campus –wide centralized posting system so TA’s can find jobs in other depts. Create a scholarship so that undergrad TA’s get equal pay for equal work Tutor Markers (TM) Modernize language in the contract – Language has not been updated since the 1980’s when TM work was completed on cassette tape and over the phone Create some supervision and mentorship requirements Give TM’s priority comparable to TAs

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Sessional Instructor Proposals Create a seniority system for Sessionals – Reserve some Sessional jobs (15%) for graduate students Create TA triggers for number of students – A Sessional can get stuck teaching a 500 student course with no TA’s Offer extra preparation time for W courses ELC / ITP Proposals Get the same benefits as other permanent workers on campus – full health and dental benefits – tuition waiver – pension plan Protect them from any attempt to eliminate the current employees

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Increase our scholarship as tuition increases Keep wages proportional to the Consumer Price Index Provide a 3% base increase to wages in 2013 and 2014 Wages Update the childcare bursary to a fund so it is distributed properly and is available to all members with children. Make our already-existing benefit of university-paid basic medical care (MSP) more accessible by automatically enrolling Sessionals, TA’s, TM’s, ELC/ITP SFU covers GSS dental plan and extended benefits plan Benefits

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors The bargaining process

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors June 2012 August 2012 October 2012

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Recent Events Shortly after job action commenced, SFU invited us back to the table Met on Friday Oct 12: – Employer tabled new proposals that were out of “left field” Mediation Sunday Oct 14: – We replied, told them we would give them a full new counter proposal the next morning. – We worked well into the night and then first thing in the morning Mediation Monday Oct 15: – We gave a proposal at 10:00am, walked them through the significant narrowing our of demands – They asked no questions, left the room – Shortly there after sent a message they were cancelling remainder of mediation dates. – They were convinced to at least come back next week sometime to respond.

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Employer’s Response NO to all of our non-monetary items, NO to all benefits increases, NO to centralized posting, NEW: YES to tearing down priority for senior instructors and graduate students YES to a monetary increase of: – Year 1: 0% – Year 2: 0% – Year 3: 1.25% – Year 4: 1.25% A 1.25% increase over the course of 2 years equates to recovering 1/3 of your tuition back.

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors How is SFU trying to change priority? Reduce priority for PhD TAs within their own department Have PhDs without Work apply for Sessional Instructor Jobs Require departments to Hire graduate students First for ALL sessional jobs PhDs all end up doing Sessional work, current Sessionals lose their jobs

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors What are the net effects PhD Students – End up forced into sessional jobs = more work for less pay Sessional workload report showed many put in hours in September. $1750 per month in wages Current sessionals – Out of work, give up on their dream of teaching at a University. Masters students – Completely out of work after 5 semesters SFU’s education system: – A reduction of experience at all levels of face-to-face teaching

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors SFU’s Bad Faith TSSU SFU Initial Position Current Position Initial Position Current Position Fair Collective Agreement

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Employer cancelling mediation signaled that our current job action wasn’t having any effect. Despite our best efforts to respond to their package, which was bargaining in bad faith, they still had no willingness to engage. The only reasonable response was to escalate job action. Our goal is to use the increased pressure of job action to get the employer back to the table. Contract Committee Report

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Strike Coordinating Committee Job Action Report

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Measured job action

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors SFU’s Response to our job action

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Summary of BC Labour Code No person may coerce or convince someone not to engage in a legal strike activity – Any supervisor who does try to coerce may be charged under the act No person may do the work of a employee engaged in job action unless: – They were already hired before bargaining commenced (i.e. before 2010).

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Questions

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors Questions

TAs, TMs, Sessionals and ELC/ITP Continuing Instructors BC Labour Code “During a lockout or strike authorized by this Code, an employer must not use the services of a person, whether paid or not, a) who is hired or engaged after the earlier of the date on which the notice to commence collective bargaining is given and the date on which bargaining begins...to perform the work of an employee in the bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out, or the work ordinarily done by a person who is performing the work or an employee in the bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out.” As well the Code provides: “An employer must not...threaten to dismiss a person or otherwise threaten a person,...intimidate or coerce or impose a pecuniary or other penalty on a person, because of a person’s refusal to perform any or all of the work of an employee in the bargaining unit that is on strike or locked out.”