“Our bargaining team has spent the last 24 hours in mediation at the Labour Relations Board trying to get our employer to negotiate a fair settlement,” said Brent Calvert, President of the Capilano Faculty Association.  “But despite our best efforts, our employer has not budged,” Calvert added.

”We have said from the outset of our negotiations that we were looking for a proposal from the University that addressed the principle of academic freedom, ensured a more democratic workplace and provided more certainty for our part-time and non-regular faculty members,” Calvert stressed.  “To date, none of those issues have been addressed and that’s why we are taking job action today,” Calvert said.

In the lead-up to today’s job action by faculty, a number of union leaders spoke at a noon hour rally at the Capilano campus on Tuesday, April 7.  The speakers included BC Federation of Labour President, Irene Lanzinger, Cindy Oliver, President of FPSE and David Black, President of COPE Local 378, the union that represents support staff at the University.  The speakers were joined on stage by representatives from the Student Union Office at Capilano.  All the speakers stressed the importance of solidarity as faculty pressed ahead with bargaining.  As well, the speakers noted that continued underfunding of post-secondary education by the provincial government is a major contributor to the problems at Capilano.