Ontario Federation of Labour, International Women’s Day and More!

March 8th is International Women’s Day and the Kawartha World Issues Centre(KWIC) has posted several events taking place that day. Of note, several TUFA members will be participating in a multi-mediapresentation and panel discussion that evening (7:00 – 8:30 pm) at thePeterborough Public Library. The event — Building a Culture of Peace — promises to explore”fresh perspectives on gender visibility, intersecting identities,liberating spaces, institutional accountability, and building solidarity.”

The Ontario Federation of Labour has called for a Day of Action on April 21st(1:00 pm) at Queen’s Park. The demonstration will protest provincial austerity measuresin the context of continuing corporate tax breaks and cuts. TUFA is connected to the OFLthrough our membership in the Peterborough and District Labour Council. We willprovide additional information as it becomes available; in particular, we willlet members know if bus transportation will be provided to and from theprotest.

Through our affiliates, TUFA monitors developments at other universities elsewhere inthe province and across the country. Of continuing interest, we note the AUCC’s unfortunate conflation of academic freedom and institutional autonomy as well as the restrictive agreement that the administrations of  Western and Uof T reached with Access Copyright.  TUFA raised this second issue at Joint Committee where we were informed that ourUniversity Librarian has been charged with leading a discussion of what Trent’sresponse to this situation should be. TUFA will meet with Robert Clarke as soonas possible to ensure that our members’ concerns in this matter are heard.

More recently, a deal between Jim Balsillie’s think tank, the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), and York University has led theCAUT to condemn both this specific agreement as well as anycollaborations that allow third-parties a voice in academic hiring ordecision-making. What about Trent? While we have not seen an agreement like theCIGI/York collaboration, TUFA must remain alert to the fact that faculty rightsand authority are at risk in our changing political environment.  Toward that end, we may be wise to use the opportunity afforded us at the bargaining table to bolster our language around certain of our qualitative terms and conditions of employment.

And in that vein, preparations for bargaining continue — stay tuned foropportunities to meet and discuss TUFA issues and concerns in the coming weeks.