UNIONIZE WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY

The work of each RA looks different. We all do research, but our pay, hours, and job security are all different. By forming a union, we will be able to better voice our concerns. Just as importantly, we will be able to more effectively communicate with each other in order to better secure our labour rights.

Antonio Rodriguez, Research Assistant

There are many differences between contacts. This either prevents IAs from investing proper time into giving students feedback or causes them go over allocated time and not be paid for their extra labour. A union would allow IAs to be successful in meeting student needs which is not currently feasible in all circumstances.

Katlyn Melcher, Instructional Assistant

Probably nothing has revealed more starkly the inequality between workers and employers than the coronavirus pandemic.

Whether it is making decisions about going into a (un)safe workplace, being paid a fair wage or simply being able to have some control over your work, unions are the one organization that will be there for you. Research Assistants would benefit from a collective voice via a union because unlike many other campus workers, RAs rarely get an opportunity to meet each other in any number to compare their treatment, working conditions, pay and benefits etc. I fully support the unionization of RAs.

Dr. Hillary Pimlott, Department of Communication Studies

Unionization is important for Research Assistants because they often work sporadically and in isolation from each other, and therefore lack the supports to be able to collectively identify shared concerns and bring them forward to the university.

Ensuring workplace safety, equity and fair compensation is as important for RAs as for any other group of workers at the university; collective bargaining would provide much-needed space for putting attention to those issues.

Dr. Alex Latta, Departments of Global Studies, and Geography and Environmental Studies

As a faculty member and director of a research centre who employs a lot of student RAs, I could easily see the formation of a new union as a threat to my level of control and my ability to be flexible in my research work. But, as somebody, who, as a student, experienced a major conflict with a group of faculty members at my university and was threatened with being legally sued, I certainly appreciated to be part of a union and have their support in countering these unjustified bullying efforts of these faculty members.

Power within a university context is certainly very unevenly distributed and a union offers a way to redistribute some of that power. While it will mean that I need to give up some of my power, I believe we all will be better of with a more equitable system in the end. Thus, I am very much supportive of this effort but encourage the organizers to work collaboratively with us, as faculty members, throughout the process so that we can maximize the chance of creating win-win solutions.

Dr. Manuel Riemer, Director of Viessmann Centre for Engagement and Research in Sustainability (VERiS)

I support the unionization of RA's on the Laurier campuses. As a faculty member who has the privilege of working with RA's, collective organizing offers opportunities for these vital academic workers to transform precarity into employment security, whether that be working conditions, remuneration, or health benefits.

Dr. Sara Matthews, Departments of Global Studies, Anthropology, Communication Studies and Religion, Culture and Social Justice

That’s why we need a union for all student workers—To support workers’ rights to advocate for themselves and to provide a collective voice to advocate for all of us.

Student workers perform indispensable labour for the university that too often gets taken for granted. Unionization is about improving material conditions, but it’s also about ensuring that student workers are treated with dignity—as students, as workers, and as human beings.

Jesse Smith, MA Student

I’ve been inspired by everyone who is taking initiatives in labour abroad to bring the struggles of the people to the forefront.

Building strength in community is what makes me happy to be an organizer at Laurier.

John Bannister, Organizing Committee Member. MA Student