The following letter was mailed to President Andrew Petter today (Tuesday, June 16, 2015) from the Graduate Student Society. It demonstrates the Graduate Student Society’s support for the TSSU.

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The Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser University
Maggie Benston Centre, Room #2203
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5A 1S6

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Andrew Petter, President and Vice-Chancellor
President’s Office
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia
Canada V5A 1S6

RE: Open Letter Regarding TSSU Contract Negotiations
Dear President Petter,

Simon Fraser University is the main employer of SFU’s current graduate students. As such, the SFU Graduate Student Society is concerned with the administration’s failure to reach a collective agreement that values graduate student labour. Although bargaining with the TSSU began in May 2014, we understand that there has been little meaningful dialogue on major issues. The Graduate Student Society urges the University to negotiate more productively with the TSSU. A protracted dispute will negatively impact the relationship between graduate student workers and SFU administration, undermining the quality of research and education at SFU.

Our members have expressed particular concern regarding the following issues:

1. Guarantee Access to Work: Application systems that allow TAs/TMs to automatically be considered for all available positions in their department that they are qualified for are currently in place at UBC. SFU can improve the graduate student experience by streamlining this process.
2. Merge TA & TM Language in the Collective Agreement: SFU continues to make classes grow by merging online and in-person teaching. A new collective agreement should recognize that workload is not only determined by time in class, but also by the number of students and the associated volume of marking.
3. Post All Positions on the Same Day: This change will allow graduate students to be more aware of work opportunities and to minimize time and effort spent on applications.
4. Pay Workers on Time: The Employment Standards Act requires that workers are paid what they’ve earned on time. Our members regularly express concern that SFU often fails to meet this standard.
5. Guarantee Graduate Student Intellectual Property: Cameras and microphones are ubiquitous on campus and much teaching currently occurs online; graduate students’ intellectual property should be better protected through clear rules regarding the ownership of teaching materials.

The Graduate Student Society believes that a collective agreement can be reached only if SFU’s administration decides to engage in meaningful negotiations. Continued failure to reach an agreement will harm the educational experience of both graduate and undergraduate students. We hope that SFU will take this opportunity to demonstrate its commitment to higher education by working with the TSSU on an agreement that values graduate student labour.

Sincerely,

Mark Perry, Director of External Relations on behalf of
The Graduate Student Society at Simon Fraser University