July 8, 2015
Strike Vote FAQ
On June 30th, SFU Administration threatened to tie us up in months of litigation over the requirement to serve strike notice twice under Essential Services law. Because our goal is a Collective Agreement, the Strike Committee decided the best course of action was to side-step that litigation by ending job action until we can hold a second strike vote. Continuing our strike action could have lead to an increasing legal liability and not a Collective Agreement, which is always our goal. As well, a second vote was already in our plans.
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No, all current strike action has ceased. You should release your grades to your students and Course Supervisor as per the normal procedure for your course. Please continue to watch your email to be informed of any strike action that the Strike Committee decides after the upcoming strike vote on July 15 and 16.
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It is clear SFU’s Administration will not bargain a Collective Agreement that addresses our core issues without strike action by TSSU. In order to commence strike action, a union must have held a strike vote within 3 months. Just after our vote expired, SFU Administration alleged that TSSU's initial strike notice wasn't served correctly under Essential Services legislation. Because of that, we must legally take a second vote. TSSU traditionally holds a second vote to authorize the use of picket lines, so this vote will both authorize picket lines and ensure our members are legally protected.
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Essential Services is a system intended to protect against risk of things such as injury to humans or animals arising from lockouts or strikes. Any work designated as Essential under this legislation cannot be impeded by a strike or lockout. At SFU, only a few workers are covered under this legislation, such as those monitoring boilers, and the animal care facility. The work performed by TSSU, like the faculty, is not deemed Essential by SFU’s Administration. Despite this, the Essential Services legislation still applies to TSSU's strike action.
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Both votes will be conducted the same way: on paper ballots and in person, as required by BC Labour Law. The key difference is that the second vote will authorize all strike action, up to and including picket lines. All members who have held a TSSU appointment since September 2014 and all ELC/ITP employees who are on the seniority list are eligible to vote.
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Before job action, we had reached no agreements with SFU Administration. After our previous strike vote and Administrative job action, we signed 8 small changes to the Collective Agreement. Similarly, grade withholding produced a commitment from SFU Administration for more and longer bargaining dates, a guarantee of an academic on SFU Administration's bargaining team, and a review of TSSU proposals by VP Academic Jon Driver. Without a strike mandate and pressure from our members, SFU Administration has no incentive to negotiate an equitable Collective Agreement.
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Continuing our strike action could have lead to an increasing legal liability both to the Union as a whole and to individual members complying with the strike action. Our goal is a fair contract, so the Strike Committee felt it was strategically best to cease all strike action and hold a strike vote to ensure solid legal footing. This both protects our members and is the most direct route to reaching a Collective Agreement.
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The requirements around essential services are actually separated into two different sections of the Labour Code. Under the essential services section, everything we did was in order. However, there is an additional requirement in the strike notice section of the labour code that was initially missed both by TSSU and SFU’s Administration.
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Under the law, a single strike vote authorizes all strike action, including picket lines. TSSU holds a second vote before commencing picket lines, as we did in October 2012.
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Short of picket lines, with strike action such as grade withholding, you should not lose any pay. This is because you are still performing your work. If we go to picket lines, pay is only impacted if you have a class on the particular day of the picket, for the first five instructional days missed. The Collective Agreement sets out how pay is impacted in Article VIII. For TA/TMs, the scholarship portion of your pay is not affected. On the first five days of picket lines, your biweekly pay can be decreased by 10% for each instructional day you miss. If the pickets last longer than five days, your pay can be deducted by 10% per day. No one wants a pay cut, so picket action will only be called for if it is absolutely necessary to achieve an agreement.
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On July 15th and 16th, we will take another strike vote. After that vote, the Greater Committee and Strike Committee will continue to meet weekly to determine our evolving strike strategy every Monday from 5-7pm in AQ 5118. All members are welcome, and food is provided.
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We maintain our belief that an agreement is possible before SFU's 50th anniversary celebration on September 9th. The higher our strike vote and the more solidarity we see from the SFU community, the faster we will get to a Collective Agreement.
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When bargaining is not effective, mediation is often employed. Either party involved in the “dispute” can apply to the Labour Relations Board for a mediator. The mediator's role is to be a neutral third party that meets independently with both sides and acts as a go between to help them come to an agreement. A seasoned mediator will be able to recognize when both parties are interested in reaching an agreement, and SFU Administration has refused to bargain on most of our core issues, so there is no reason to expect that they would respond favourably to mediation.
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We are asking for authorization to hold picket lines so we have the strategic ability to do so when it will produce the most pressure on the SFU Administration. The specific decision to go, or not go, to picket lines will be debated and discussed at the weekly Greater Committee meetings, Mondays on SFU Burnaby campus in AQ 5118 from 5-7pm. All members are encouraged to attend, food is available.
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