TSSU Membership Mobilization Committee (MMC) stands firmly behind Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum, co-founders of the Drug User Liberation Front (DULF), whose homes were raided and who have been arrested by Vancouver Police. DULF’s evidence-based approach to harm reduction is saving lives in the face of the ongoing drug poisoning crisis. Instead of supporting DULF’s mission through meaningful legislation, municipal, provincial, and federal governments are hindering their important work and are abandoning people who use drugs, refusing them basic rights to dignity, autonomy and life itself.

Canada is in the midst of an overdose crisis, disproportionately affecting Indigenous people and members of the working class. Instead of centring compassion and harm reduction, the government is continuing its criminalization and harassment of people who use drugs, causing irrevocable harm to the community. Drug user-led collectives, such as the Compassion Club run by DULF, give life-saving benefits to users such as safe supply and a monitored consumption site. DULF’s Compassion Club reduces overdoses and hospitalizations, and reduces members' reliance on unsafe supply. The arrest of Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum is another act of repression and violence against activists who take direct action against the drug poisoning crisis. This is especially worrying in light of the death of activist Jerry Martin earlier this year, after his arrest and subsequent barring from access to his support community by the VPD.

We call for the release of Eris and Jeremy, a stop to the repression faced by DULF through the VPD, and for meaningful policy that tackles the drug poisoning crisis by centring harm reduction and compassion.

Sept. 26, 2023 — Nearly 1,600 teaching staff at Simon Fraser University are set to begin an indefinite work stoppage on Thursday, Sept. 28.

Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU) members and their allies will begin rolling and escalating pickets of the university’s three campuses starting in Surrey on Sept. 28.

The TSSU is escalating its ongoing strike action in response to SFU’s refusal to offer a reasonable contract after 41 sessions of bargaining and 19 months without a collective agreement. As teaching assistants, sessional instructors, English language and culture teachers and other educational support workers, TSSU members provide at least half of the instruction that makes the university function every day.

“SFU’s administration is eroding the foundation of the university from underneath their own feet,” teaching assistant and School of Communication PhD candidate Dalton Kamish said. “The majority of our members are graduate students struggling to afford rent, groceries or medications. Without us, there is no SFU — but president Joy Johnson and the board of governors don’t seem to understand that.”

The university’s administration has failed to adequately respond to the union’s core demands:

Cost-of-Living Adjustment: As Metro Vancouver becomes an increasingly expensive place to live, TSSU members have been subjected to successive pay cuts in real wages. SFU’s latest proposals continue to lag behind inflation. The union is demanding real pay increases tied to inflation.
Stop Wage Theft: Every semester, TSSU members are expected to do more work for less pay. Class sizes, administrative duties, and expectations of student support have all ballooned while wages have stagnated. The union is calling for a compensation model that reflects their true workload.
A Better Future For Instructors: Hundreds of courses at SFU rely upon Instructors who must reapply for their jobs every term and who don't have access to pensions. Many of these instructors have worked at the university for decades and they deserve continuing jobs with a year-round commitment and a pension plan that allows them to plan for retirement.

Not only has SFU refused to accept that instructors deserve a living wage and a better future, its bargaining proposals have made clear the university wants to make their working conditions worse. The university has even refused to enshrine in a contract its ostensible commitment to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and protections for survivors of workplace harassment.

“SFU wants to be known as a progressive university, but their refusal to commit to basic matters of human rights shows just how committed they really are to the lofty language they use in public statements,” said Jonas Eschenfelder, a TSSU member and earth sciences PhD candidate.