On March 5th, the Provost sent a memorandum for “continuity planning” in the case of a USW and/or PSAC strike or lockout. As most people may now know, USW reached a tentative agreement in the early hours of Sunday. As we are posting this, late Sunday evening, we still do not know the outcome of the negotiations for PSAC 901. We very much hope that they too will be able to reach a tentative agreement. In the meantime, we wanted to share some comments on the Provost’s memo.

It is evident that the administration intends to use the well-established tactic of advertising “business as usual” during a potential strike or lockout; it’s their effort to minimize the impact of collective action. It is equally evident that business as usual at Queen’s is only possible with the essential work of the 2000 PSAC members who are now in the 11th hour of negotiations trying to win a fair contract. Without their labour, it will be impossible for the University to function as normal, despite claims made by the Provost.  

We are aware that some colleagues are (rightly) confused by the misleading language in the memorandum, especially in points 2, 3, 13, and 14. Here is our take:

  • Point 2: “Academic activities are expected to continue […]”. The Provost may expect academic activities to continue, but individual QUFA members may choose to exercise their collective agreement rights as laid out in Article 12.3 and refuse to carry out their activities as normal.
  • Point 3: “Winter term exams are expected to continue.” The Provost may expect the exams to continue, but it is not clear to us how they will be graded. QUFA members are not to do the work of employees in other bargaining units.
  • Point 13: “You may decline to cross another bargaining unit’s picket line […] if you have reasonable grounds […] to believe that your physical safety is jeopardized.” The memo misrepresents picketers as a potential source of violence, a tactic that the administration has employed repeatedly to undermine the legitimacy of campus protest. The goal of picketing is to inform non-striking employees, students, and members of the public about the issues underlying the strike. All unions have made it clear in multiple communications that they welcome questions and solidarity on their picket lines. The message conveyed via the setting up of a security-related Picket Hotline – or  “snitch line”  – will not deter faculty, staff, and students from showing solidarity with their PSAC colleagues.
  • Point 14: “A QUFA bargaining unit member may refuse to cross another bargaining unit’s picket line, in the context of a legal strike or lockout, for a reason other than reasonable grounds to believe that their physical safety is jeopardized. In such a circumstance, the QUFA bargaining unit member must advise their Unit Head as early as possible that they are declining to cross a picket line. The QUFA bargaining unit member may propose alternate arrangements for carrying out their scheduled duties. If the Unit Head approves the alternative arrangements, the member’s active status, pay and benefits are unaffected. If the member does not propose alternate arrangements or proposes arrangements that are not acceptable to the Unit Head, the member will not be available to perform duties and will be placed on leave without pay but with existing benefits intact.” This point is perhaps the most problematic in the memo. As a QUFA member, you have the right to refuse to cross the picket line by either making alternate arrangements for your teaching (such as moving classes online or to the picket line) or by withholding your labour (with a one-day pay cut for each day this occurs). You do not have to seek permission from your unit head or dean to exercise this right; you simply need to notify your head (in most cases) or your associate dean (if you are a head) of your decision. If you choose to cancel a class, be sure to include your course schedule and time slot when informing your department head. Likewise, be specific about whether you are withholding all or only part of your labour (e.g., only undergraduate teaching). Term adjuncts also have the same rights.

The language in this section of the memo may be interpreted as retaliatory. To clarify, you are not “put on leave”; rather, you “will be deemed to have sought and been granted a leave,” as per our collective agreement. From submissions to the QCAA Gossip Box, we understand that the administration is threatening to cut off email access for those of us who will exercise this hard-earned right to refuse to cross a picket line. We are not clear how the administration will manage the workload of turning email access on and off as faculty withhold our scheduled duties, such as teaching for one to three hours a day, on only certain days of the week. Furthermore, and most importantly, the agreement specifies that such a refusal “will not constitute just cause for discipline.” This protection extends to pre-tenure or adjunct members who choose to exercise their collective agreement rights. 

For updates on PSAC, please follow the Unity Council and PSAC 901 accounts on social media. 

Finally, as one colleague recently pointed out, the rights outlined in our collective agreement were hard-won at the bargaining table. We salute our colleagues who fought to secure these rights for us, and we encourage everyone to exercise them to the fullest extent possible. We know CUPE and USW were able to guarantee better deals thanks to all of our collective efforts as workers at Queen’s. If PSAC loses, we all lose. Their win is our win. 

In Solidarity,

QCAA 

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