As most students are aware, there have been ongoing negotiations between the BU Faculty Association (BUFA) and the BU administration in the nearly one-year absence of a collective agreement. It has been a stressful time for everyone involved, as it becomes very difficult for any union when they are not able to make productive headway on their key negotiating points with their employers. Additionally, students have been very anxious to see how these events will unfold and what it would mean for our semester if the administration does not reach an agreement with BUFA and the professors go ahead with a strike. My name is Renee, and I am the President of the BU Politics Society. I am writing this article on behalf of our club to speak on our letter writing campaign and why it is important for any students who want to take action.
There are two crucial aspects to stress before going further. First, no one ever wants to have to strike. It is often a very long, arduous process, and can last for extended periods of time. We must remain aware and respectful of the fact that if a strike occurs, it is because BUFA felt that they had no other feasible option to move progress forward on their collective agreement. Second, we must be sure to educate ourselves on what BUFA is asking for before we engage in any discussion about the nature of the negotiations or the potential of a strike. The best place to do so is the BUFA website: https://www.bufa.org/. I will briefly highlight the key points here to emphasize the multiple facets of the faculty demands. The main priorities are improving equitable compensation and pension benefits, establishing a greater balance of workload to ensure professors have time to conduct their important research, and crucial practical provisions related to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Decolonization (EDID) and Indigenization. In addition, building provisions for BUFA to have improved ability to hold the administration accountable for their policies, as well as some ‘housekeeping’ on the agreement, such as shifting towards more plain language to ensure it is accessible for everyone. This is a very simplified overview, so please consult the BUFA website at the link above to gain a full understanding of what is at stake in these negotiations.
Now that we have established the key information, I will now return to the building anxiety amongst students during this time. Many students are wondering if there is anything that they can do to help avoid a strike, which will inevitably impact everyone at BU in a variety of ways. As articulated by student resources available on the BUFA website, and as has been proven in the past in other circumstances, the best action for concerned students to take is to write letters expressing their concerns with the negotiations, demanding action on the part of the administration. There is by no means an expectation that students engage in this type of action, but as many students have expressed the desire to “do something about it,” the BU Politics Society felt that it was the right time to organize and guide students in the right direction in this regard. We would like to thank BUFA for making available a wonderful template letter on their website, which we repurposed for our social media campaign. Our goal is to be able to share widely amongst other student collectives, to reach as many students as possible. Engaging in a letter writing campaign during this time is incredibly important, as student voices can be a powerful tool in placing pressure on the university to come to a timely and equitable agreement. By regularly advocating for their key points, and further voting on a strike mandate, BUFA has shown the university their collective stance. Students can do the same by using their voice and expressing their discontent with the current situation. A critical mass of these types of statements sends a strong message that we want what is best for our professors, other university staff, our university in general, or for our ongoing learning and growth this semester. Many of those who are planning to graduate this spring started their degrees during online learning in the context of COVID-19 lockdowns, and it would truly be devastating for us to have to lose out on this invaluable time with our favourite professors at the end of our degrees. Anyone who is struggling with these feelings right now and who wants to ensure that our university’s administration sees and takes into account our perspectives is strongly encouraged to take part in our letter writing campaign.
The information we have compiled is available on Instagram at the username @bupolitics if you would like to see the resources in context of our social media campaign and share it further. See also our outline of the simple steps you can take to provide your input to the administration! You are welcome to access the letter on the BUFA website, or if you’d prefer a different format, you can download our Google document, with our suggestions for where to personalize. It can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JgepJWlbWvDD9U_6FDFtJAk_RBIUUbXQ5SxGdR1ABl0/edit?usp=sharing
We want to thank all the student collectives and individual students who continue to share our campaign. We express our firm support for our professors during this time, and we call on the BU administration to take immediate action to build an agreement that accounts for all of BUFA’s essential demands.