Hello everyone — As someone who has been very involved in organizing the certification drive, I cannot say that I agree with all of the sentiments Marjorie Griffin Cohen shared here this evening, as much as I respect the degree of her conviction on the matter. I do very much agree with her on one point, though, namely that SFUFA did indeed decide to pursue a certification drive both after a very strong vote at the fall meeting and after a debate and decision by the executive. So I do believe it is utterly appropriate for SFUFA to be actively pursuing certification, as it is their mandate now after very strong displays of support by the membership. But I also support SFUFA’s efforts to promote open discussion on the matter so that faculty can make a decision as they see fit. I also support having a faculty association — whether it becomes certified, as I sorely hope it does, or not — where open debate and discussion is fostered and encouraged. I think such debate can, in the end, only strengthen the association and thereby strengthen the faculty’s voice in matters of importance at the university and in higher education more broadly. I wish that sort of discussion could happen here on this forum without degenerating into derision and mockery and little flame wars, as so often seems to be the case. I see nothing wrong with stating one’s own position on the issue. My own position is that I support certification of SFUFA as a union and I hope that all of my colleagues across the campus join me in this and sign a union card so we can have a proper election.
If you are not convinced, if you are on the fence, or if you would like to know why I support certification, drop me a personal email (cpavsek@sfu.ca), ask me your questions and I’ll do my best to answer. If you like, I’ll send you a copy of the talk I gave last May in the debate at the very start of this entire process. I’ll try to update it before I share it, since my views have changed somewhat since then, though my conviction has not in the least. Sincerely, Christopher Pavsek Christopher Pavsek Associate Professor of Film and Associate Director School for the Contemporary Arts Simon Fraser University 149 W. Hastings Vancouver, BC V6B 1H4 Canada Phone: 778-782-4672 email: cpavsek@sfu.ca On Mar 10, 2014, at 8:02 PM, JD Fleming <jfleming@sfu.ca> wrote:
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