As part of so-called "budget cuts," SFU has unilaterally decided to close two long-standing programs English Language and Culture (ELC), and Interpretation and Translation (ITP) this summer. This decision was made with no consultation with the union, and means nearly 20 continuing instructors and an additional 20 long-standing temporary instructors will lose their jobs. The continuing instructors have an average of 16 years of service and during those years have made immense contributions to our community while bringing in substantial revenue to the University. We are working with the instructors and affected stakeholders to question and to try to reverse this shocking decision. In parallel, TSSU is working to negotiate a fair compensation scheme that respects these instructors' many years of service, should SFU decide to close the programs anyways.
As part of that effort ELC/ITP Alumni and supporters have been adding letters of support and we encourage all to read about the deep impacts of these callous cuts on long-standing programs that have contributed so much to the community.
Several media outlets have covered this closure announcement:
If you are available to help with the effort to reverse this decision, or were a student in ELC or ITP, please get in touch with the ELC/ITP Steward Scott Yano at: scotty@tssu.ca
Letter of Solidarity with the Unist'ot'en Camp and the Wet'suwet'en Nation
January 22, 2019
The Teaching Support Staff Union is an independent, feminist and member-driven union that represents over 2000 teaching assistants, tutor markers, sessional instructors and ELC/ITP instructors at Simon Fraser University.
The TSSU membership reaffirms its support of the Unist'ot'en Camp and stands in firm solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation and the movement fighting for Indigenous Sovereignty against encroachments by extractive industries and the Canadian state. We condemn the colonial Canadian state and the RCMP for continuously enabling extractive industries like the Coastal GasLink to insert pipelines on unceded First Nations territory without consent.
In northern British Columbia, the Wet’suwet’en stand in the path of the Northern Gateway pipeline. Threatened not only by Northern Gateway, Wet’suwet’en territory is to be bisected by the Pacific Trails pipeline which will carry natural gas to Kitimat. Construction has begun on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, and a proposed four pipelines will travel the route through Wet’suwet’en land. Efforts to halt pipeline development and reclaim ancestral Wet’suwet’en land are already underway.
On January 7, 2019, militarized RCMP descended onto unceded Gitdumt’en territories of the Wet’suwet’en Nation to enforce a colonial court injunction in favour of Coastal GasLink. The RCMP and Coastal GasLink have violently trespassed on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory and removed people from their traditional land, an act which is in gross violation of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We call on the Governments of British Columbia and Canada to immediately revoke Coastal GasLink’s permit, remove all RCMP and Coastal Gaslink presence, and respect Wet’suwet’en laws, jurisdiction and Indigenous Sovereignty.
In solidarity,
Teaching Support Staff Union (TSSU)
Survivors Tent Pole - Documentary Screening & Dialogue with DTES Community
This event is held on the unceded territory of the sḵwx̱wú7mesh, sel̓íl̓witulh, & xʷməθkʷəy̓əm nations. The TSSU Solidarity & Social Justice Committee is very honoured to be working with people at the heart of The Survivors Totem Pole project to bring to the screen the stories and journey of the Totem Pole on:
Thursday, January 31 7:00 - 9:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm) Djavad Mowafaghian, SFU Woodward's 149 W. Hastings St.
The Survivors Totem Pole is a grassroots community art and action project. The pole is a three-year collaboration between DTES advocates, First Nations, members of the LGBTQ community, along with Japanese, Chinese, and South Asian survivors of racism. The Survivors Totem Pole symbolizes inclusion in the Downtown Eastside as well as resilience, fierce resistance, and solidarity of people in the DTES community. Carved from a 1,000-year-old cedar tree, the Survivors Totem Pole was raised in Pigeon Park on November 5th, 2016.
In order to create a legacy of the Survivors Totem Pole project, local filmmaker Susanne Tabata documented both the lead up to the pole installation and the historic pole raising day. The result is a moving and stunning film (24') where we witness the journey of the Survivors Totem Pole and a tribute to the undying strength and unity of a community of displaced people. Lead by carver Skundaal Bernie Williams, local Indigenous voices soar, interwoven with commentary from Sacred Circle supporters Sid Chow Tan, Raj Toor, Grace Eiko Thomson, hereditary Squamish Chief Bill Williams, Haida elders Wilfred Price and Woodrow Wilson, Musqueam activist Audrey Siegl, and anti-poverty activist Jean Swanson. (Description credit: Terry Hunter)
Please join us in a night of learning and witnessing the story of the Survivors and dialogue with those who have been the heart of this project.
