Dear Colleagues,
A number of you have written to WLUFA, asking why we have not issued any formal statement about the issues that were brought to light first by Christie Blatchford’s National Post column.
The primary task for a union is to protect the rights of its unionized members under their collective agreements — through negotiations, through grievances, through the resolution of workplace conflicts, through service on bilateral committees, through the dissemination of relevant information etc.
With the above in mind, it is WLUFA’s position that the issue elaborated in Blatchford’s column has not yet jeopardized any of our members’ rights. The Employer, in fact, is being supportive of both the faculty members and the graduate student involved (who, it must be clear, is not a member of WLUFA), as well as the student(s) affected in the tutorial.
The principle of Academic Freedom is one that WLUFA staunchly upholds and defends for our faculty members. The current case in the news, however, has not resulted in the Employer questioning this right.
Please Note:
The Administration will be employing a neutral third party to gather facts related to the circumstances which gave rise to this issue. If you are asked to participate in any meetings related to this fact-gathering and wish to have WLUFA representation, please do not hesitate to request this from our office — [email protected]
Sincerely,
Michele Kramer
WLUFA President