Yesterday the Provost sent an email to students, staff, faculty and librarians regarding the strike. The email reiterates claims and allegations that have appeared for some time on the administration’s website.
It would be fruitless to engage directly with the misrepresentations and mistruths in the materials that the administration is putting before the public. They are all mustered in support of a single outrageous conclusion, which is that the interests of faculty and librarians conflict with the interests of students and the long term interests of the university.
This corrosive misinformation campaign is just that, and nothing more. But here’s the real problem. The administration will not make its case any more effectively at the bargaining table by disparaging the faculty and librarians on the picket lines. Neither will this dispute be resolved by bargaining in public. We will only get a deal at the negotiating table.
If the administration were as serious about resolving this dispute as they claim to be, they would be negotiating with us at the bargaining table. Instead, they are conducting negotiations in public – on their website, in emails, and by staging daily sidetable negotiations with our students.
We have always been and continue to be willing to negotiate. We will not abandon appropriate and productive bargaining practices. And we will not abandon our commitment to negotiating a fair and reasonable settlement. As faculty and librarians we want to ensure that we are able to offer the highest quality education to our students and to contribute our very best to the life of the university.
We would like to thank all of you for your engagement over the past few weeks, this past week above all. You are welcome to drop in to Strike HQ or to stop by on the picket lines to talk to us. We look forward to continuing our conversations.
—Striking faculty and librarians of the Mount Allison Faculty Association