The Ontarion received the following letter from Kayla Weiler, National Executive Representative for the Canadian Federation of Students in Ontario, regarding how the Federation perceives the province’s post-secondary faculty, administration, and students, and the changes it wants to see in the post-secondary education sector overall.
To members of Ontario’s post-secondary institutions,
Students and academic workers are the backbone of Ontario’s college and university campuses. Workers set the stage for better conditions on campus while students study, live, and work there. The institution’s ecosystem cannot fully function without the efforts of both.
This past year, Ontario’s educational institutions have seen an increase in faculty strike actions. At the core of these strikes is a desire for better working and learning conditions, an end to privatization and precarious work, and a better deal for post-secondary education across the board.
Faculty continue to go above and beyond for students during the pandemic, offering both academic and mental health support by mentoring students and providing them extensions on projects. However, faculty have also had to continue to bargain for workload adjustments, equal pay for equal work, job security and equity, as well as academic freedoms. The pandemic has highlighted these issues, although they have existed in the post-secondary education system since long before the emergence of COVID-19 and online learning. When professors are properly supported they are able to dedicate more time and focus to students’ success, meaning that faculty support is absolutely vital.
Contrary to what administrators state, there is no neat division between students, instructors, and other academic workers. Students work part-time jobs both on and off campus, with some holding dual roles. For example, these are teacher’s assistants, research assistants, and support worker roles such as residence assistants and campus porters.
Additionally, the interests of students in high-quality education are closer to the interests of faculty than the aims of administration.
Students have a history of supporting their faculty throughout the bargaining process. In previous strikes, students and their unions have been pressured by the university administration to remain “neutral” or to support the administration instead of faculty. This has been seen through campaigns of misinformation about the faculty union and their bargaining demands. Administration will commonly blame the workers.
Administrations try their best to divide students and faculty, and they benefit from those who claim to remain “neutral.” Administrators are looking to use students as a reason why they cannot provide better working conditions for faculty, often stating that they hold the interests of students, when the opposite is true. Administrators benefit from any anti-faculty sentiments that continue their inaction to meet faculty’s important demands.
There is no such thing as a “neutral third party” in these situations. When people attempt to remain neutral, the administrators benefit, not the faculty and especially not students. When students read between the lines, they can clearly see that the administration is scared of students supporting their instructors, professors, and other academic support workers. Administrators know that the campus would not exist without the student to learn, and the teacher to teach.
Post-secondary education has been underfunded for decades. In 2017/2018, Ontario spent only 0.7 per cent of its GDP on PSE operating funds, drastically behind Newfoundland and Labrador (1.4 per cent) and Quebec (1.4 per cent). The cost of paying for education has been offloaded onto students through high tuition fees—particularly international students’ tuition fees. This underfunding has led to large class sizes, heavy faculty workloads, and a high student-to-faculty ratio that causes both parties to feel the negative effects of a system that is privatized.
International students—who are a cornerstone of campus life—have been used by administrations to line their pockets, with some students paying as much as $60,000 a year to attend an Ontario university. Though both the provincial government and administrations at post-secondary institutions claim that they cannot afford to fund public college and university education, several Ontario institutions posted profits this past year.
The entire post-secondary education system suffers when work is precarious and underfunded, as it impacts both instructors and students in the classroom. It results in the contracting out of campus services that students rely on, such as food services and campus maintenance, as well as more part-time faculty who have less time to support students. There is no justifiable reason why institutional administrations and the government should continue to allow the system to be underfunded while simultaneously charging high tuition fees.
When labour is precarious, the system is one step closer to being privatized. Without strong job protection on campus, the process for privatization is easier for administration, as it opens the door for contracting out services. Students and workers want to see robust change to the post-secondary education sector towards a publicly-funded system.
The Canadian Federation of Students calls for the end of short-term contracts for faculty and full-time educational workers and we urge institutions to hire staff in unionized jobs. Moreover, we want services such as food services, parking services, and maintenance to be brought in-house and operated internally.
Furthermore, graduate students need to be given equal pay for equal work and should be recognized as both workers as well as students by decision-making structures, such as the Board of Governors and Senate to ensure proper job protections. When we graduate, we enter the same precarious job market that our professors and instructors are currently in.
The Canadian Federation of Students fights for faculty and their issues because we have the same concerns, and we know that we can only win when we stand together. The Federation is united with labour unions that are fighting to end precarious work.
The post-secondary education system is being treated like a private corporation to support the interests of private business and not the public good. We believe that universities and colleges are a place of belonging, exploration, and growth, and therefore should not be treated solely as a means by which students can attain a certification on their resumé.
In solidarity,
Kayla Weiler, National Executive Representative for the Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario
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